


After...

by ashryvergrace



Series: If The World Knew... [4]
Category: Area 11, Bandom, Fall Out Boy, Hamilton - Miranda, Lucifer (TV), My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Supernatural, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Angst, Asexual Character, Fluff, Gen, Healers, LGBTQ Characters, Vampire Hunters, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2020-10-12 02:48:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 72,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20556953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashryvergrace/pseuds/ashryvergrace
Summary: After everything, after a year and a half of pain and death, maybe it's time the bands had a break. What happens when the vampires of LA are no longer intent upon their destruction? What happens if maybe, for once, they allowed themselves to be happy? As Pete and Brendon forge their clan, the bands will unite, now and always.





	1. Christmas to New Year

**Author's Note:**

> Hamilton enters @ Chapter 15  
Supernatural enters @ Chapter 16  
Lucifer enters @ Chapter 30
> 
> (There are other characters, but unless they are in more than 2+ chapters, they are not listed in the tags.)
> 
> You don't NEED to have read 'If the World Knew...' but it makes more sense if you have.

**_Christmas 2010 - Pete Wentz_**  
As Area 11 were in LA until the 30th of December, we had five days before they were to leave. The bands spent time together, both individually and together, even going so far as to play together. Since I’d helped Patrick transform the basement of HQ into a sound-proofed music room filled with so many instruments it was impossible to count them all, we had plenty of space to practice without disturbing the rest of the house. On the 29th, we - the bands, Alex and Priya - sat down in one of the larger rooms on the second floor - one which had been filled with comfy chairs, sofas, cushions, blankets and even a couple of bean bags. We’d known each other less than a week, but we’d spent so much time together, we already felt like family. During the ad break of the film we were watching, Gerard put the TV onto silent. “You know, I kind of wish you guys weren’t leaving tomorrow. Sparkles - Tom - smiled.

“We need to go home for new year. It wasn’t exactly easy to explain to our families why we’d be away for Christmas and being away for New Year would be inexcusable.” We smiled.

“Fair enough. Has Patrick given you the recipe yet?” Tom nodded.

“Yes. Thank you Patrick.” FOB’s singer nodded.

“It’s okay. Although I did have one thought.” The English band frowned. “When Pete and Brendon relapsed, we had to flush it out of their systems. That hasn’t happened for Parv. He’ll need the green first.” I sucked in a sharp breath, wincing. Parv looked wary - rightly so.

“That sounds horrible. Why?” Alex grinned.

“Okay, so we found this out the hard way. The normal blend contains a variety of ingredients which vampires - and in your case, sunwalkers - can’t otherwise get. Vitamins, minerals and adrenaline make up around 3/10 of the whole mixture. Then, because blood is an essential part of your diet, 3/5 are made up of cow, sheep and pig blood. The final 1/10 actually seems counter-intuitive, but we found that it wasn’t possible for vampires or sunwalkers to live without the elements in human blood which cannot be gotten anywhere else. This lot,” she nodded her head to the various humans around the room, “take turns donating blood to go into the mix. Sparkles, Kogie, Leo, you’ll have to do the same. In fact it’ll be easier for you guys, for us, there’s five humans to two sunwalkers. Technically speaking, you’ve got an extra half a person.” Kogie frowned.

“I still don't get why you have to put human blood in at all?”

“When we didn’t, both Pete and Brendon looked and felt physically ill and when it got too bad, they both went out to get blood from other sources. Trust me, it’s better to put it in,” Patrick told them.

“So that’s the normal one, what’s the problem with the green?” Alex grinned again.

“It is 1/2 my blood - healer blood to flush the human blood out of your system - and half minerals, vitamins and adrenaline. But it’ll knock you off your feet for a good few hours and you’ll feel terrible when you wake up.” Parv winced and groaned. Sparkles, however, was interested in the stats. 

“So this mix, how much will he need a day?” That was the point Patrick decided to pull out his folder and we broke off into our separate conversations. I listened into Patrick and Sparkles.

“Okay, so say we make up a full batch on the 1st of January. The totals ten pints, which is around 5.68 litres. Surprisingly, they actually don’t need that much, around 400ml a day. So because there’s two of them, one batch lasts about one week. We rotate around and because Alex can heal us to peak health, we can donate as often as necessary. For you, it’ll last about two weeks, which means donating every six weeks. I’m not sure, but I think you’re supposed to have longer than that between donations, so you could really do with finding a healer if you want to be able to donate more often. Oh, according to Pete and Brendon, the blend is always better heated up.” Sparkles diligently took all the information down in his notebook. “If you want, we’ve got some of the green in the freezer, I can get it out and heat it up. It’ll knock Parv out for a few hours, but he’ll be awake well before your flight leaves. Then we can give you some of the normal blend to drink before you get on the plane. That should keep him ticking over until you can get home and make more.” Sparkles glanced at the guitar player, who had evidently heard Patrick from the slight nod and smile he gave us.

“The sooner the better.” I grinned as Patrick glanced at me. It took me less than two seconds to run downstairs and pull a ‘green’ out of the freezer. It was only 100ml, but since the recipe had been refined, it was powerful. I unscrewed the lid and put the glass jar in the microwave, setting it to heat. When it pinged, I pulled the jar out, screwing the lid back on loosely and sprinting back up the stairs, handing the warm liquid to Parv who stared at it with utter disgust before wincing and downing it in one. The green eye flare flashed and he collapsed where he was sitting. Kogie, Leo and Sparkles all looked incredibly worried given they’d known him less than three months. That was how I could tell that their band was going to be something special.

After Leo carefully carried the unconscious sunwalker into a bedroom to sleep off the effects of the 'green', the night continued. We talked a little more, forgetting about the film and deciding to bond a little more. We discussed our favourite instruments, what we were like in school, what other talents we had, just the little things.

Parv appeared at some point later. Upon glancing at my watch, I realised it was past midnight. Brendon fetched some of the blend for Parv who drank it quickly and smiled a little at the rest of his band, who then promptly thanked us profusely and left on the grounds that they at least needed a little sleep before their flight tomorrow. Soon after, the rest of us went our separate ways.

~~~~~~~~~~

Area 11 left the next day, boarding their flight back to the UK. From the airport, Patrick invited me over to talk and chill and finish watching the film. As it ended, Patrick headed to the kitchen to wash up the dishes we'd used to make the popcorn. I followed, jumping up to sit on the counter and watching him work. Once in a while, he'd turn round and smile a little. When he was done, he turned to lean against the sink, smirking.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." I raised my eyebrows and he smiled wider. "Before this all started, you were sitting exactly where you are now, watching me like you just did without helping whatsoever." I smiled too. The day - and the year that followed - may have been bad, but I was where I wanted to be, surrounded by my friends. I jumped down and hugged my best friend.

"Someday, when we've had our break, we'll come back. Fall Out Boy Returns. Who knows, maybe someone will make a film." Patrick rolled his eyes and smiled sideways as I leant against the sink next to him.

"You think?" I glanced at him.

"I know. We're not done yet. The story isn't over." Patrick sighed contentedly.

"Good. Without sounding big-headed, I think the world still needs us."

"I know it does. And Patrick, you couldn't sound big-headed even if you tried." He smiled again and it was my turn to sigh. "But not yet."

"No. Not yet. The rest of the world can wait until we're ready." I nodded and smiled.

"I think that's fair," I told him. 

"I know it is," he grinned, returning my comment. As I contemplated the clouds passing over the sun's lazy arc across the sky, I smiled.

"For now, the world is going to be just fine."


	2. The New Alpha

**_16th March 2011 - Brendon Urie_**  
Surprisingly, it didn't take long for Pete and me to narrow down the list of suitable vampires to take over as alpha. We interviewed twenty-seven vampires of all ages, ranks and abilities. Of these, only one grabbed Pete's attention. Still, when Charlie announced she would be visiting LA, Pete decided it would be best to present her with options. He chose three vampires to present to her: The first was almost as old as Luka had been, with rather old-fashioned views and questionable plans about what he wanted to do with the clan. The second just a few years shy of two hundred and had zero leadership potential. The third was our favourite, a 37-year-old nurse, born and raised in LA and turned six years ago.

Charlie arrived swiftly and under the cover of night, appearing on the doorstep of the base around four in the morning. She hugged us both and then dived into the basement bed to sleep off the long run from NYC to LA.

She emerged just after the candidates had arrived with a demure smile, dressed both formally and as if she were ready to do battle. "So. Who have we got?" I glanced at Pete and his clipboard.

"James Smithson. 426 years old, works as a lawyer, holds the position of Alpha in one of the outlying towns around LA. His morals and plans are perhaps questionable, but he is a very capable leader. He has brought a beta with him." Charlie grimaced.

"The next?" Pete flipped the paper over.

"Erik Ashfield. 193 years old, works as a detective, hold the position of Beta in Burbank. Not necessarily leadership material just yet, but he might do alright with a bit of training. He doesn't have a beta." Charlie still didn't look pleased.

"Please tell me you have more promising candidates." Pete glanced at me and flipped onto the next page.

"Mika Owens. 37 years old, works as a nurse, unranked. Turned in 2004. Doesn't have a beta, but he brought a female with him. When Brendon and I scanned his mind, we found heavy scarring." Charlie frowned and slowed her pacing.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that Luka used heavy mind control on him. Meaning that he resisted past the point that any and every normal vampire would have. Meaning that he doesn't want to be alpha because of Luka's influence." Charlie didn't quite smile, but her frown lifted.

"Sometimes, the best leaders are those who do not want to lead. Alright. Let's get this over with. James Smithson?" She raised her voice, calling him into the room. He swaggered in with a male in tow.

The first interview went badly. James was definitely not what Charlie wanted. He was too self-absorbed, too caught up in ambition. Besides, his beta was in a poor condition and one of the most important things in a good alpha was how they treated their betas. The second interview went similarly in the opposite direction. Erik had no potential as a leader and struggled to make his point. Besides, he had no beta at all - and hadn't thought to bring even just a friend.

Charlie leaned her head against the wall and sighed in frustration. "Mika Owens?" She called. A male appeared in the doorway, lingering there until a female pushed him inside and into a chair, taking a seat next to him and folding her legs. "You're Mika Owens?" The male nodded politely. "And your beta?"

"Oh, she's not my beta. Em is my best friend. She's very capable and I think she should be alpha." Em elbowed him hard enough for him to wince.

"Mika's a little shy, but he's a good leader when it counts. He can handle pressure and isn't blood-crazy and is capable of organising and taking control of large groups of people." Em smiled and bit her lip, contemplating whether she'd said too much.

"That's good. Do you have examples of this?" Em nodded vigorously.

"I work at the hospital with him. We frequently get patients rushed in from an ambulance and they're usually in a bad state. There was one particular occasion where there was a couple who had been in a car crash. The red-headed lady was bleeding out and the dark-haired woman was unconscious with a blocked airway. Mika took control and saved both of their lives. If it wasn't for him, neither of them would have made it." Charlie raised an eyebrow as Mika blushed furiously.

"That is good to hear. Your plans should you be made alpha?" Mika frowned, thinking hard.

"I want to improve relations with humans. They shouldn't have to fear us. I want the clan to remember when they were human, how scared they felt when they were in danger. And once that is done, I want to put a policy in place which means we need consent." Em smiled and nodded once. Charlie tilted her head, frowning.

"What do you mean? Consent?" Mika blushed.

"It's something Em and I talk about a lot. You need consent for so many things - from being in school to being in a relationship as an adult. It's important and maybe if we do that - give the humans control, at least when it comes to feeding - we can try to eliminate fear." Charlie smiled now.

"I understand. Thank you." Mika nodded and stood up, wandering outside. Em lingered in the doorway for a moment longer.

"I'm with Mika every step. He's a little shy at first, but he has good potential." Charlie just smiled and nodded as Em left. I glanced at her and Pete.

"So?" I asked.

"Mika. I don't need a minute to think or more people to interview. If you say Mika is the best candidate, I believe you, and he has a strong beta behind him." Pete nodded and Charlie called Mika back in. "I would like you to be my new beta and to take over the role of alpha from Pete." Mika swallowed. "Pete, take Mika's wrists." Pete smiled and offered his hands to Mika, who wrapped his fingers around Pete's wrists. Charlie glanced at me and Em and I grinned, following what Pete had done. "Pete, when you are ready, let go." Pete's eyes lit up violet, but it faded back to brown as the light entered his veins, travelling down his neck and along his arms. Where he and Mika were joined, the light shifted to red and flowed upwards towards his eyes. I glanced at my own arms, a matching violet light turning red as it entered Em. Mika broke apart from Pete.

"What happened?" Charlie smiled.

"When Luka died and his betas died, his alpha power and their beta power transitioned to me. When I met Brendon and Pete at the Summit, I transferred those power to them so that they could keep control of the clan. They just transferred it to you." She bowed, waving a hand for us to follow suit. "Welcome, Mika Owens, Alpha of the city of LA, the county of Los Angeles, the state of California and the West Coast of America." He blushed again and linked hands with Em. "Take up your position and organise your clan. I will return in a few months to speak with you." Mika smiled and thanked her before rushing out of the room, Em in tow. Charlie turned to us. "Well done boys. You are free to begin your own clan." We smiles and nodded.

“Thank you Charlie.” She nodded once in acknowledgement.

“It is the least I could do. I will return in six months to check on you. I will need a census then, but until then,” she smiled and didn’t finish. “See you in six months boys,” she said with a grin before disappearing in instants.

“So, alpha, what’s the plan?” Pete sighed.

“I have no idea. I don’t even know how you make a clan,” Pete admitted. "But you'll always be my Beta, right?" I nodded.

"Of course. If that's what you want. Why not Patrick? Or Andy? Or even Joe?" Pete shrugged.

"I want to ask Pat too. His humanity will keep us grounded when it's all too easy to go insane. But you're like me. There will always be things they won't understand that you will." I smiled sadly. "Besides, as horrifying a thought as it is, someday, Patrick will be dead. And so will the rest of them. And then we're going to need each other." I shuddered at the image which crossed my mind. My friend's untimely deaths were always me biggest fear, I just hoped they would live long enough to be considered old - at least by society's standards.

"Well that's an entirely depressing thought." Pete rolled his eyes and smiled a little. "Come on. Why don't we go and see MCR this evening?" He sighed.

"That sounds like a plan. How far are we running?" I shrugged.

"Well it's in Michigan. I'm pretty sure it's over 30 hours by car." He grinned now.

"Last one there pays for drinks for a month!" I grinned, taking up the offer.

"Make it two and I'm in. I'll beat you anyway." Pete smirked. 

"You sure about that?" I nodded rapidly. "Done. Slowcoach." With that, he turned tail and disappeared, sprinting away. I smirked and closed the door to our base, locking it and tucking the key into the alcove only we knew about before chasing him down.


	3. The Census, November 2011

NAME - SPECIES - RANK  
All of these are members of Pete's clan. However, they do not all live in the same place. 

Pete Wentz - Sunwalker - Alpha

Brendon Urie - Sunwalker - Second

Alex Parvis - Sunwalker - Third

Patrick Stump - Human - Second

Andy Hurley - Human - Third

Joe Trohman - Human

Dallon Weekes - Human

Spencer Smith - Human

Tom Clarke - Human

Jonathan Kogan - Human

Leo Taylor - Human

Gerard Way - Half-breed

Mikey Way - Half-breed

Frank Iero - Half-breed

Ray Toro - Half-breed

Tyler Joseph - Quarter Celestial

Josh Dun - Quarter Celestial

Alex Newton - Healer

Total of official members: 18

Note: Wives/Partners and children are not included in this census. However, when the children come of age, they may choose to join the clan.

Clan is as yet unnamed.


	4. The Beginning

**_Christmas 2012 - Pete Wentz_**  
We gathered together again for christmas two years after Luka's defeat. There was an intoxicating sense of peace around the headquarters that we hadn’t really felt before. We connected with the English band over FaceTime as well, meaning everyone was together, even if there were miles separating us.

We discussed much and little. We reminisced about previous tours and talked animatedly about new music. Mostly, we relaxed and made small talk. Sparkles* asked after the children who had entered our world recently and we smiled, happy to listen to Frank and Ray talk about their kids. 

The evening wore on. It wasn't until around nine that the mad ideas and crazy suggestions started - mostly from Brendon, though the rest of us were apparently just as eager to jump on the bandwagon.

"Hey. I miss touring together. Why don’t we play a show?” The entire room - and the men on the end of the video chat - frowned in confusion. “Or two shows. Everyone. All together.” Eyebrows flicked either up or down, expressions changing from relaxed to excited or nervous or calculating.

“Just us or the Brits too?” Frank questioned. I glanced at Area 11 on the laptop.

“ALL of us. Next year. Make it big and loud and impossible to describe.” We glanced at him. Patrick furrowed his brow and reached for his notepad.

“Could we pull it off?” Tyler asked. Patrick scribbled numbers down.

“Maybe. But it would take a lot of planning. Three, no four of us have albums coming out next year, and we're touring, but if we were to find the right dates, it could work.” Brendon grinned.

"See? Look, what about this time next year? What about 10pm-1am on the 24th and 31st of December?" 

"You want us to play into christmas and the new year?" Mikey asked. Brendon nodded rapidly and glanced at me.

"One show in Europe, one here." Gerard also looked at me.

"I'd rather be with my family for those two days, but we could do the 23rd and 30th if everyone else is cool with that." I glanced around the room and then looked to the band watching our interaction over the laptop.

"What do you guys think?" They were quiet, looking to Sparkles* for an answer.

"I think we're lucky to have met you. Playing with you would be one of the best things that will ever happen to us. And selfishly, if we're playing the same concert as you, it might boost our fans. We're still small scale. But yes, I think we could to that. None of us really have family to be with over christmas and new year, other than our parents and siblings, so it would be cool if we could crash over there." I smirked.

"Works for me." I glanced at my band. They all shrugged or nodded or smiled. "We're in too. Dallon, Spencer?" Brendon glanced at his bandmates and opened his mouth to speak, but it was Spencer who spoke first.

"I'm taking a step back from the band to deal with my personal crap. But I'm pretty sure Dallon and Brendon would both love to go." I nodded my respect for Spencer taking the time to care for himself, even if it meant giving up something he loved.

"Okay. That's three out of five. Josh, Tyler, you in?"

"Always." 

"Seems like we'll be joining you too," Gerard said, stretching and yawning. His band nodded in agreement. I grinned at Brendon.

"Five out of five." Brendon smirked back.

"Five out of five."


	5. The Youngblood Clan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dates and locations vary.  
Primarily: Paris, France, 23rd-24th December 2013
> 
> As a side note, there are no extra hired musicians at this concert. MCR borrows Patrick to play drums, P!ATD borrows Josh Dun to play drums and Alex Parvis to play guitar.

_**Brendon Urie**_  
Over the next six months, we planned. Though some of us were away on tour, we planned with every spare minute we had. On free days, we chatted over video or phone, discussing the details and ideas. Eventually, we brought our tour managers in on the idea and though they were skeptical to begin with, they were on board once we gave them our idea. 

We decided collectively that there would be very little advertising. On Halloween, we would post a video and a riddle related to old and new albums as well as previous shows on our twitter accounts. Those who decoded it would be led to a website where they would purchase the tickets via donation to one of the ten charities we had picked out. We would also send out hundreds of tickets to fans who couldn’t afford to pay for tickets on their own.

We also practiced our asses off. Our set lists had been chosen and we all worked day and night to make sure everything was perfect, especially working on the final setlist, the one we hadn't yet told anyone about.

In the evening, after one of our shows with FOB and TØP, we were sitting talking with the members of MCR and Area 11 over a video chat. Pete sat up from his relaxed position on my bunk of the tour bus as if an idea had struck him. I smirked as his idea overflowed down our psychic connection. "What about the Youngblood Clan?" No sooner than the words had left his mouth did we feel the connection click. That was all it took. The naming of the clan made it final, the connection permanent and irremovable. Inside our minds, Pete's power reached out, joining us in a complex web, each member connected to each other. A web which had Pete and me at it's centre, surrounded by the family we had forged. I grinned as he lay back down looking slightly stunned.

Logistically, the idea of one show like that was a nightmare, let alone two shows. We picked Paris, under the Eiffel Tower for our first show, and the concept of trying to organise more than fifteen musicians was... challenging. It took a lot to get permission from the police and those in charge of big-scale event in Paris, but when we did, everything started to set in stone. 

~~~~~~~~~~

_**Thea Elliot**_  
I hadn’t thought anything of the nondescript black envelope which had arrived on my doorstep at the end of October. Being so busy with balancing school work, real work and my extra-curricular activities, I didn’t touch the envelope for a good few days. It was a Sunday when I finally opened it, finding a letter inside along with three tickets and a booking confirmation document. I frowned, confused. Two of the tickets were for a return flight from Inverness, Scotland to Paris, France leaving on the 23rd of December and returning on the 24th. I studied the third ticket and nearly fell off my bed. I glanced up at the posters on my wall and back down at the ticket. Black card with the details written in gold. The names of five bands along the top edge with a time and date: 

_My Chemical Romance, Twenty Øne Piløts, Area 11, Panic! At The Disco, Fall Out Boy_  
_Paris, France. Under the Eiffel Tower for one night only._  
_22:00-01:00, December 23rd, 2013_

I swallowed the lump in my throat and studied the booking confirmation. One night in a hotel just a few minutes walk from the Eiffel Tower. I picked up the typed letter and leaned against the wall.

_Dear Thea Rose Elliot,_  
_We were recently informed of your situation through a letter from a Miss Catherine Shadow and wish to provide you with the opportunity to come to this show. Flights have been booked from your nearest airport and a hotel room provided, shared with your friend, Jane Allan._  
_Sincerely,_  
_P!ATD, MCR, FOB, TØP, A11_

And beneath the abbreviated versions of their band names lay seventeen signatures. It wasn’t until I watched tears drip onto the short, printed letter that I realised I was crying. I put the letter down and picked up the concert ticket with shaking hands, sprinting down the stairs and throwing my arms around my mum.

“Hey T, what’s wrong?” She turned and hugged me back briefly. I broke away eventually and handed her the ticket. She smiled. “You’re happy crying?” I nodded and wiped the tears away, laughing a little. 

“Thank you,” I whispered. She shrugged and smiled back at me. A shrill ringing cut through the air and I pulled out my phone, Jane's number popping up on the screen. “Hey,” I glanced at my mum, who raised an eyebrow, before heading back up to my room.

“Please tell me you got a ticket.” I grinned and glanced down at the piece of black card in my hand, the gold writing catching the light.

“Black card, gold writing?” I asked, playing dumb. She shrieked loudly on the other end of the phone and I winced. J never shrieked.

“What’s your plane seat?” She asked rather excitedly.

“14b. You?” I responded.

“14c. We’re next to each other!” I smiled to myself.

“Yeah. And we're sharing a hotel room. Your parents sent a letter?”

“Yeah. They said they’d cover for me at school. I’m sure your mum has the same plan.”

“Probably. This has got to be the best thing in the world. We’re going to be counting down the days now, aren’t we?”

“Definitely. But, in the meantime, I’ve got homework.” I groaned.

“Me too. Talk later?”

“Of course.”

“Love you, J.” 

“I know,” she replied just before I hung up.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next three weeks were the longest of my life, but the day arrived, eventually. My mum dropped me in town and took my sister to run errands. I met up with J and we bought our bus tickets to the city. The bus ride was around an hour long and I don’t remember much other than falling asleep on her shoulder, waking only as she squeezed my hand indicating we’d arrived at the airport. Neither of us had packed suitcases, only large rucksacks filled with everything we’d need, including the tickets and a change of clothes. She grinned and linked her fingers through mine as we checked in and headed to the waiting area with our can of Pringles and bar of chocolate. When we were called to go through security, there wasn’t a hitch. We were safely on the flight as it took off, watching the clouds skim past. Around halfway through, I felt her head on my shoulder, asleep. We’d gotten up at six to make sure we had plenty of time to make the 10am flight and we were both exhausted already. She was awake before we landed smoothly in Paris. We adjusted our watches and grinned at each other. Our parents had given us what limited money they had - and we'd both gotten jobs to earn some extra - which we converted at the post office the day before taking off. We flagged a taxi and arrived at the Hotel within an hour.

Having arrived by midday, we sorted our stuff out before heading out to grab lunch from a cafe we’d noticed down the street. When we’d eaten, we set our alarms for 8:30pm and decided to sleep. The show was set to be three hours and we needed to try and get a few more hours before then, despite the adrenaline rushing through our systems. Surprisingly, it was not difficult to fall asleep, but I woke a good half-hour before my alarm went off. I switched it off and decided to have a shower. When I got out, wrapped in a soft, fluffy towel, J was awake, grinning sleepily. I sat on my bed to do my makeup - black and gold - before sorting my hair, blow-drying it and threading black ribbons into the gold braids before pinning it up in a circle shape, out of the way. Jane emerged from the shower, still smiling and we set about choosing our outfits, especially given the winter weather and the light dusting of snow. I went with black jeans, a gold top and my teal multi-band hoodie for later while J picked navy jeans, a black t-shirt with a gold multi-band symbol she’d created and her burgundy and navy Area 11 hoodie. I picked out gold and diamond jewellery and added a matching hairpiece, studying my reflection in the mirror for a moment. The gold was cheap and the diamonds were only glass, but you couldn’t tell by looking and the end effect was the same. We pocketed our phones and left the hotel at around ten past nine. Thankfully the doors weren’t locked overnight, meaning we could get back to our rooms, even at half-one in the morning when we were exhausted and utterly numb, our ears inevitably ringing from the sound.

It took us ten minutes to walk to the area where thousands of people had already gathered. We showed our tickets to the people at the barriers who nodded and smiled, one person in a black suit with gold writing smiling, handing us a programme and escorting us forward, further and further until we were standing right at the front, only feet from where four drum kits were set up alternating with four keyboards. In front of them were several guitars and basses and a ton of microphone stands. Around the area, several large screens had been put up along with huge speakers so people further back could see and hear. People extended in every direction for almost as far as the eye could see. Roads were closed and police were directing traffic around the mass of people.

According to the programme, MCR were opening the show, then TØP, then A11, then P!ATD with FOB going last. Each band would perform for half an hour before an unexplained half-hour section at the end. My heart was racing, and we had half an hour or more until the concert would start. J was staring at the instruments with a strange look of awe and anticipation. She also looked like she was about to have an excitement-induced heart-attack. I grinned and she smiled back, linking her fingers through mine. The minutes ticked past, the audience going through various renditions of a number of songs, some we knew, some we didn’t. 11:55. A countdown timer popped up on the screens. A variety of reactions happened at once, deadly silence, screaming and quiet giggling amplified by the sheer volume of people. Jane smiled at the timer. 2:36. 2:35. 2:34. It ticked down the seconds, each seeming longer than the last.

The lights illuminating the instruments cut into darkness as the timer hit 10 and people began counting in their different languages. As the timer hit zero, the lights came back up, illuminating MCR and their touring drummer. I was breathless. They were so close, I imagined for a moment I could reach out and touch them, before realising if the barriers weren't in place, I probably could.

“What’s up Paris?!” Gerard yelled into his microphone, his voice like pumping fire and caffeine into your veins. J grinned as the audience shrieked their replies. “What do you say we play some awesome music?!” The audience screamed louder and I half-thought my eardrums would burst there and then. 

~~~~~~~~~~

As My Chemical Romance came to the end of their set and said their farewells, Twenty Øne Piløts appeared. And so the evening went on, bands switching out every half hour which seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye. As Area 11 appeared, a few people seemed mildly confused, but once they started playing, the skepticism was left behind. They may have been a little newer and a lot less experienced than the others, but somehow, they held the crowd's attention. Their set finished too soon, and then it was Brendon and Dallon's turn. Though Spencer wasn't touring with them anymore, Brendon said a few words which move the thousands of gathered people to tears. The clock struck midnight as Fall Out Boy took to the stage, rousing the crowd, hundreds of voices joining in with the familiar songs. When my watch read 00:30, Fall Out Boy finished, Patrick's voice singing out a final glorious, empowering _'I. Don't. Care what you think as long as it's about me, the rest of us can find happiness in misery.'_ Pete caught the crowd's attention. There was a long pause and echoing silence before the four other bands appeared. Every single person wearing matching black and gold, each with their own unique style. The stunned silence continued as each musician took their place behind their instrument.

The opening chords of _Teenagers_ rang out over the thousands of gathered fans, building, Gerard's voice echoing, the fans joining in. As the chorus built, four voices joined him and four bands struck the same cords, everything down to the beating of the bass drum identical. It was rapidly followed by a rousing rendition of _Semi-Automatic_ and _Euphemia_. J made an unearthly screeching sound as she listened to her five favourite bands singing one of her favourite songs by the least-known of all of them. The opening notes of _I Write Sins_ plucked out on guitar and keyboard resonated in our ears, Brendon's voice harmonising perfectly with Patrick and the other singers. From there, _20 Dollar Nosebleed_ pounded through the audience. After the five songs ended, they paused for half a second. It was enough for the gathered fans to let out a roar of joy and excitement. 

_"Is this the real life?"_ Brendon's voice made us quiet in instants, in a way no teacher ever could.

_"Is this just fantasy?"_ Gerard cut through the lingering notes.

_"Caught in a landslide..."_ Tyler took the leading line.

_"No escape from reality."_ Patrick entered like the quiet dawning of spring and the first flowers poking through the remnants of the winter snow.

_"Open your eyes, look up to the skies..."_ Sparkles* voice echoed through the fans in a wave.

_"And see."_ Their five voices blended together and the music began, not slowing even a little, building, rising, swirling, twisting to its climax in an epic moment that could have come from dream. _"Any way the wind blows."_ When the final harmonised lyrics rang through the audience thunderous applause and cheering erupted. It didn't slow for a good three minutes. The sixteen band members stepped forward, lining up next to each other, arms hung over shoulders, we realised that what had been created here could never be replicated, could never be made again. This was something different, something special.

My ears rang with the echoes of the final chords. My heart raced with the beat of the music as it died. I’d forgotten the world existed outside of music. The cheers and roars were impossibly loud as the sixteen musicians took their final bows and disappeared to who-knows where. People didn’t leave for a long while after that, many revelling in the after-shock of the concert. When they did leave, J and I stayed standing, staring blankly. We stayed for long enough that when the bands returned to dismantle and collect their kit, we were still staring at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Someone’s hand touched my shoulder and I jumped, turning to find Brendon smiling at us. I elbowed J, mouth hanging open and she turned, shrieking and burying her face in my shoulder.

“We’re dead. Or we’re dreaming. There is no way any of that just happened.” I said decisively, the words sounding foreign - far away. Brendon still grinned, offering a hand.

“Nope. It was real. Come on. The grass is damp.” I took his hand, which was cool and surprisingly smooth, and he pulled me up in one swift movement. J glanced up as I took one of her hands and Brendon took the other and we pulled her up.

“J? You okay?” I asked. She let out a strangled noise and I grinned. “We should definitely go. It’s like…2am.” Brendon grabbed my wrist as I turned to leave.

“Wait. You have to meet the others first. Come on,” he said, pulling us towards where the people were packing up their things. “Oh. What are your names?” I stared blankly at him. He smirked, as if this was common, as if it happened all the time - which, I realised, it probably did.

“Thea. And this is Jane. Sorry, I think she’s starstruck. Damn, I’m starstruck. Sorry, I should slow down.” I rushed out, words melding together into nonsense. Brendon grinned again. “I’m ADHD. My head moves waaaay too quickly for most people to keep up.” 

“Me too. I wouldn’t worry. We’re a relatively intelligent group of people. We’ll try and keep up.” I smiled appreciatively until I realised we’d arrived. “Yo! Fan alert!” Brendon yelled. Fifteen heads popped up from their instruments and smiled, some walking towards us, some returning to what they were doing. “I’d introduce you to them, but you probably already know our names,” he said to us before turning to his friends. “Everyone, this is Thea and Jane. Thea, Jane, this is everyone.”

“Hi!” J managed to squeak out. I grinned and elbowed her.

“Hello. That was…indescribable. And what you did for us was invaluable. Sorry, my heart is still racing.” Brendon winked.

“We know.” I contemplating frowning at the statement, but he’d already moved on. ‘You guys play instruments?” J smiled and shrugged, staring primarily at Sparkles* and Kogie.

“Bass and ukulele,” she uttered quietly. 

“Piano, Violin - a minuscule amount of guitar - and I sing.” The collective group smiled.

“Fancy playing? We’ve turned down or most of the instruments so not all of Paris will hear.” I glanced at J who stared half in terror, half in anticipation before shrugging. I glanced around the instruments, deciding my skills with a guitar were not enough to warrant playing in front of successful band members and instead settling for a keyboard. I tested out the notes, revelling in the way they echoed back to me through the speakers - though admittedly much quieter than they had been before. I glanced at J who had managed to position Pete’s bass perfectly. We’d practiced a song for a concert at school, an arrangement I’d managed to put together. She glanced at me and shrugged, listening to the bass through the speakers. I put my phone on the music stand and pulled up the music. Playing the opening chords, I felt Patrick and Brendon leaning over my shoulders in a mildly unnerving way. I held firm though, finding the flow of the music. Emma’s bass line entered and a few bars later, my vocals came in. We played Fall to Rise, a song I’d written when I was fifteen or so and we’d worked out music to along the way. When that ended, we flowed straight into Fall, a multi-band song comprised of various songs from the bands standing around us, all of which had ‘Fall’ in the title. When we were done, we blushed furiously as they clapped and whistled.

"It's just a little something I put together. I made an arrangement of all your songs but I'm not sure it's very good. Do you mind?" They shrugged and shook their heads and I glanced at J who seemed to have regained some faint semblance of confidence, at least enough to ask to use Kogie's bass. "This is Go!" I launched into playing the notes without giving myself time to panic, playing the arrangement of the five songs I'd put together, all with the word 'go' in the title.

“Those was incredible. In fact, I might borrow them.” Pete scowled, but he couldn’t keep the expression in place for long. I smiled shyly.

“We should really go.” J seemed inclined not to move. “Before we do, can we…” I bit my lip, not wanting to overstep my bounds.

“Group hug?” Brendon finished, immediately pulling the people closest to him into a huddle. We held on for a long while and when we broke away, I wiped the happy tears off my face. “Hey. You’re hoodie? You made it?” I nodded. “Can we sign it?” I flicked my eyebrows upwards and nodded, pulling my hoodie off and laying it flat on a drum, not feeling the cold at all. They each signed a small area on the back of the hoodie in permanent marker around the emblem I’d created. I glanced at J. She didn’t have anything for them to sign, but Gerard pulled a poster out, depicting the five bands standing together - probably from the video shoot - with writing and information about the concert along the bottom in gold. They switched to a white marker pen and signed an area on the poster, rolling it up and handing it to Emma who grinned and hugged me.

“We really have to go.” They nodded and Kogie called after us. 

“Have a good…night? Morning? Flight?” We giggled, thanked him and turned to attempt the most difficult task we ever accomplished - walking away from the most incredible night of our lives.

~~~~~~~~~~

_**Brendon Urie**_  
We watched the two girls walk away and smiled to ourselves as we packed the instruments away. They were nice and had managed not to pass out upon meeting us - which strangely had happened more than once at other concerts. There was a strange feeling in my chest as the disappeared back towards whichever hotel they were staying in, like we'd see them again, but I dismissed it and sighed. This concert had definitely been a good idea. I might have been nervy at the beginning, but by the end, watching the fans stand just a few feet away, the majority of them unable to fathom what was happening, that's when I knew it had been good. Pete glanced at me, smiling slightly.

The instruments were packed away and then we headed to the hotel to catch a few hours sleep before our flight back to LA at 14:20. Then, in just twelve hours time, the Youngblood Clan would return home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SETLISTS (For those interested)
> 
> MCR Setlist:  
\- Helena  
\- House of Wolves  
\- Mama  
\- Party Poison  
\- Vampire Money  
\- Bulletproof Heart
> 
> TØP Setlist:  
\- Fall Away  
\- Friend, Please  
\- Taxi Cab  
\- Migraine  
\- House of Gold  
\- Guns for Hands
> 
> A11 Setlist:  
\- Vectors  
\- Knightmare/Frame  
\- Dream & Reality  
\- Tokyo House Party  
\- ATLITS  
\- The Legendary Sannin
> 
> P!ATD Setlist:  
\- Nine in the Afternoon  
\- New Perspective  
\- Hurricane  
\- Let's Kill Tonight  
\- Casual Affair  
\- Girls/Girls/Boys  
\- This is Gospel
> 
> FOB Setlist:  
\- Dance, Dance  
\- Sugar, We’re Going Down  
\- This Ain’t a Scene…  
\- Thanks fr th Mmrs  
\- I Don’t Care  
\- Alone Together  
\- Young Volcanoes 
> 
> ALL Setlist/Encore:  
\- Teenagers (MCR)  
\- Semi-Automatic (TØP)  
\- Euphemia (A11)  
\- I Write Sins Not Tragedies (P!ATD)  
\- 20 Dollar Nosebleed (FOB)  
\- Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen)
> 
> During the second show (Next Chapter) they also play _'Go!'_, Thea and Jane's arrangement of  
Planetary (GO!) - MCR  
The Run and Go - TØP  
GO!! Fighting Action Power - A11  
Ready To Go - P!ATD  
Where Did The Party Go? - FOB


	6. Elle's Retribution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Los Angeles, California, 1:30am, 31st December 2013

_**Thea Elliot**_  
The events which landed me and J at the show in LA were complicated, but by blind luck, we both ended up standing, watching the same show we'd seen in Paris. It was every bit as awesome as the one before, except this time, they played our compilation, _Go!_, mentioning us by name. Even I squealed at that. But as they ended their version of _Bohemian Rhapsody_, there was something off. Most of the crowd didn't notice, but there was a shift in the way the performers stood, their eyes darting to the shadows at the edge of the huge arena. As people began to file out, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was definitely wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~

_**Dallon Weekes**_  
The fans were leaving. The show had been long and amazing and I could feel the atmosphere we'd created still swirling through the air. It was one of our bigger shows and we’d had the perfect sunset slot. Brendon’s sunwalker genetics meant that the sun was no longer a problem, but it didn’t make him any less willing to stay up late into the night. 

Despite the excitement, Pete's senses had flickered just as we reached the middle of the last song, alerting the clan to something in the darkened far corners of the arena. We left the stage as if everything was normal and the fans left in clusters or alone, the music still echoing in their heads. 

When we wandered back onto the stage, staring out at the arena, we realised two things. One; that the shadows moving and swirling in the darkness were people - more specifically vampires - and two; that there were still fans inside. Patrick elbowed me and nodded towards them. Brendon had already noticed. He jumped down off the stage, wandering forwards warily, away from the fans and towards the shadows. A wave of his psychic energy swept over me and I found myself reaching for my dagger, Brendon’s voice echoing around my head. ‘There’s four fans still in here. Protect them.’ Patrick glanced at me having received the same message and we jumped down off the stage, heading towards the three girls and the boy who were wandering towards the exit. I quietly slid my hand into one of the girls’ hands and she turned to me with wide eyes and a familiar face. Two of the girls were Thea and Jane from the Paris show. I whispered softly.

“You’re in danger. Get behind us.” Jane and her friends tucked in behind Spencer and I as Brendon returned to us, speaking directly to the fans.

“Hi guys. Thea and Jane, what are you...? Never mind. We’ve got a little bit of a problem, but Dallon and Patrick are going to protect you okay? You know we’re hunter’s right?” They nodded. “Good. What are your names?”

“This is Rebekah and Thomas,” Thea introduced her friends. Brendon nodded and smiled reassuringly.

“Cool. It’s nice to meet you. Stay with Dallon and Patrick, okay?” They nodded again and he breathed a sigh of relief, turning to us.

"What is it? Who's here?" Patrick asked hurriedly, his voice hushed.

‘Elle. I’ve been keeping tabs on her since we took down Luka. She’s gathered a bit of a following, a few hundred vampires. There’s seven or eight here, including her.’ Patrick and I palmed our daggers. ‘And another human. She brought a human for some reason. Guess we’re about to find out.’ I studied the shadows as they stopped swirling and fell away, eight vampires and a human stepping into the light. Brendon and two of the fans gasped, Brendon stumbling back into me. I steadied him and studied the face of the human. Familiar from somewhere. Too familiar. My tongue skittered over the name, latching onto it.

Ryan Ross.

~~~~~~~~~~

_**Brendon Urie**_  
Ryan. My heart jumped in my chest as the world swirled to a halt. After everything, he was here. I couldn’t deny the pain in my chest, the one which made me feel like I couldn’t breathe, the one I had for months after he left, the one which made me want to curl up and die every time I thought about him for weeks on end. I’d loved him then and in a way, I still did, but so much had happened, I was so different. I couldn’t begin to imagine what he might think of me should I tell him. _Vices & Virtues_ might have been a giant 'Screw you, I can still make this work', but recording the latest album... I'd never felt the loss of my bandmates more acutely. 

Elle moved forward with him, the tip of her blade - her golden celestial blade - poised to pierce his jugular. “Sup B? How’s life since your friend drove one of these through my mate’s heart?” I raised my chin and flipped my blade - my identical silver dagger - which I’d pulled from the inner pocket of my jacket.

“Let him go, Elle.”

“Why?! He’s so gloriously…what’s the word?” She ran her tongue along the curve of his neck, her fangs visible, and I bit the inside of my lip, letting the emotions inside of me simmer, contained, waiting for the perfect moment. “Delicious. Why don’t we share him?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I did. She knew I did. Dallon and Patrick knew I did. But the fans - and Ryan - had no idea I’d ever been a vampire - or that I was a sunwalker - and I intended to try and keep it that way, at least for now.

“You know, what was it? Three - four - years ago now since Luka and Pete and you had your little blood-spilling spree. I lost count. Pete… What number was he at again?” I kept my lips shut, but the blade at Ryan’s throat glinted in the red lights of the arena, and I could see blood spilling as she drained Ryan. Even if it wasn't real, I couldn't risk it.

“One hundred and forty seven.” Elle grinned maniacally, tilting her head.

“And you? How many did you…”

“Two hundred and six,” I said quietly, cutting her off before she could say the word which would seal my downfall.

“That’s right. You know, Luka was skeptical of you at first. Thought it would be harder to control you. But once he got his claws into you, oh, it was beautiful. You painted LA red.” I closed my eyes, images of the people I killed flashing in my mind.

“Let him go,” I said softly, but not weakly, my voice edged with fire and the need for revenge. She still grinned, the cruelty, the pain she could inflict - pain I knew all too well - glimmering in her red eyes. But then, her demeanour snapped in an instant, fake friendliness shining over that twisted mind.

“Tell you what. Since we’re such good friends. If you hand yourself to me, I’ll let this pathetic sack of meat live.” I glanced at Dallon and Patrick, the fans behind them, Ryan held tightly in her grasp.

“Only if you let them all go.” Giving myself up would be suicide, I knew that, but I needed to know it was worth it. For Ryan, always. To save Pete the heartbreak of losing Patrick, always. To spare the fans from my mistakes, always. She seemed to contemplate the offer.

“Fine.” The blade dropped from Ryan’s throat, but she kept hold of his arm. “Their deaths for yours? Sounds fair.” I dropped my dagger and swallowed the sobs rising in my throat, even as tears streamed down my face. She let Ryan go and he walked towards us. I glanced at Dallon and Patrick, pleading with my eyes for them to keep the fans safe. Elle’s psychic power had blocked me off from my friends so I couldn’t say anymore. Elle waved a hand as I stood in front of her, the seven other vampires disappearing into shadow before disappearing completely. She tilted her head. “Kneel.” I swallowed and stared her in the eye, even as I knelt on the ground. “You know, I was contemplating what to do with you on the way over here. Now, I could kill you, but then I realised that would be far too quick and easy. You’re, what is it? Too rare to die?”

I hated that she quoted our album, that she’d followed me enough to know these things about me. But, I realised, it was not all that difficult to find if you looked. “So no, I’m not going to kill you. But I know what you fear.” I felt it physically as she ripped into my head, shattering my defences in moments. I felt it as she took control, the pain, the anger, the heartbreak free to take control. “You fear hurting the ones you love. You fear being discovered. So that’s what we’ll do then huh. Let’s take away those pretty brown eyes of yours.” I felt her rip away the cage keeping the bloodlust chained down. I watched my eyes shift to violet in the reflection of her glowing red eyes. “Oh, sunwalker. You thought you could hide,” she mocked. I felt my body turn around, watched as Dallon and Spencer sucked in a breath. They’d seen it before. But the others. The fans turned sheet white, their reactions varying from shaking and crying to standing still as a deer in headlights, just watching. And Ryan was silent, emotions roiling like a storm in his chocolate eyes. I was sure the shattering of my heart was audible from a million miles away. She walked forward - we walked forward, faster than a human could blink, we were standing in front of them, heads tilted. I screamed in my mind.

“You promised they would live! YOU PROMISED!” She smiled and ignored me. Then I felt my fangs click into place.

“Let’s see. Ryan first. You hate him remember. He left the band. He left you.” But I didn’t. I didn’t feel any of those things. Despite that, I found myself saying things.

“Yes. He left me.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Despite everything I felt, I leaned towards him, my eyes tracing the curve of his neck, where his shirt collar was open, a bow tie hanging loose.

“He’s going to die.” I watched, trapped inside myself as I leaned forward, fangs reaching forward.

And then I could breathe, I could think, I could move. I snapped my eyes back to their natural brown and retracted my fangs as Elle whirled, snarling as Pete, Joe and Andy emerged with our entire clan behind them, each of them bearing a weapon. Pete had blown through Elle’s control of me, using our sire bond to force her out of my head. Elle sprinted towards them. I glanced at Dallon and Patrick. They nodded and I tore the blades from their hands, sprinting after her. 

Her guards reached me first, summoned from nowhere and in front of me before I could blink, my blades hitting home through their hearts. Elle had disappeared into shadows, but I heard someone’s breath hitch in their throat. Thea - despite being fully in Elle’s grip, despite the fear, the terror in her eyes - held her chin up, her jaw clenched, fury overriding the other emotions. Elle smiled - giving us the sanest look I’d ever seen on her face - before sinking her fangs into Thea’s neck and splitting her jugular wide open. As Thea dropped to the floor, her life draining away, Pete’s blade flipped in his hand and hurtled towards the insane vampire. Elle didn’t even try to defend herself as the blade hit it’s mark and she crumbled into a pile of ash, the blade clattering to the floor. I was next to the girl in an instant, my hand under her head. I couldn’t stop it. Pete knelt next to me, his eyes locking onto mine. He didn’t need to ask the question. I pushed a strand of hair off her face.

“Just tell me one thing,” the girl spluttered, blood bubbling from her neck, tears flowing in a river mirroring my own. Whatever adrenaline had blocked her fear of Elle, it was draining away along with her life. She reached a hand up to my face and it was as if she felt no pain. Her finger traced my cheek, wiping a tear away. “Tell me I was brave,” she whispered with a sorrow filled smile. My heart thud a little faster, like a bird trying to fly free from a cage, waves of emotion roiling in my mind.

“You were brave,” I told her, my voice cracking as her smile faded and her hand fell from my cheek, the life fading from her silver-blue eyes. She was so fragile, so weak, like a feather standing against a hurricane. She was so close. I looked up at Pete. “I can do it. I have to do it.” He said nothing. I glanced between my wrist and the girl. I couldn’t let her die. Not like this. I called back memories of listening to Alex talk about the book, about how sunwalkers turned people, about the transformation. It took less than seconds for me to puncture the vein in my wrist, my blood falling so slowly towards her, landing on her lips, running down her throat. In moments, a violet light emanated from the gash in her neck and the edges began to heal, leaving a long jagged pink scar. Her eyes opened momentarily - her irises flashing violet - before she dropped limply back to the floor. I listened and it echoed back to me; a faint thud, thud, thud, beating from her chest. Even with the sound confirming that she was alive, I was numb, the world a million miles away. I felt Pete’s fingers wrapping something soft around the bite mark in my wrist, talking steadily and calmly to me, but I couldn't tell what he was saying.

“Brendon? Look at me,” Pete’s voice finally managed to puncture the wall of silence. I shifted my eyes to him. “You did the right thing. Listen, we sent the others away, but Ryan…” I hadn’t even realised Ryan was still standing in the huge auditorium. We moved towards him slowly, but he still flinched slightly.

“Ryan…” I started.

“Vampires huh? I leave and you throw yourselves into hunting vampires?” He interrupted.

“To be honest, we didn’t really have much of a choice. Pete turned me and then Dallon and Spence and the others kind of just followed. It was a whole thing. I…”

“With all due respect, Brendon, shut up.” I shut my mouth. There was a long pause where I could hear Ryan’s mind ticking over, thinking. “So you were vampires? Both of you. But now?”

“We’re sunwalkers. Kind of like vampires, but not,” Pete answered.

“And the numbers. She made you say numbers. 147 and 206?” Pete glanced at me. Neither of us replied, but Ryan wasn’t stupid. “The people you’ve killed. Oh.”

“They brought us back. Luka did something to us. Took away our memories of the good things we had in our lives, made us think only he cared about us. Patrick, Joe, Andy, Dallon, Spencer, they managed to bring us back.” Ryan glanced at me.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We don’t talk anymore. We split up and I was still trying to pick up the pieces. I was scared you hated me - or that if you didn’t already, you would when I told you. It doesn’t matter. Pete and I, we’re still us.” Ryan shook his head.

“But you’re not.” He glanced at me, then at Pete. “Can I have a moment with Brendon?” Pete smiled sympathetically.

“Always. If you wanted me to go, you just needed to say so.” Ryan looked surprised, but Pete just looked at me for a too-long moment and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“I…” I started, faltering, not knowing where to begin.

“Don’t. Just don’t. I need to figure this out.” I stared at the floor, suddenly shy as Ryan’s eyes drifted over me. I swallowed and tried to even out my breathing.

“Do you want to come back?” I looked up to find Ryan’s eyes boring into mine. “To the band, I mean.” He studied me.

“Do you want me back?” I swallowed again. Yes, desperately. No, not really. I don’t know, it’s been too long. I closed my eyes.

“More than anything.” When I opened my eyes again, Ryan’s face had fallen.

“Was it that bad?” I didn’t say anything yet, but my slight nod must had confirmed his fears. “I hurt you. I know. I’m sorry. But you made it. You’re here. And you have Sarah?” The name sounded strange on his tongue, almost foreign.

“Yes. She’s more than I would ever have asked for. Better than I could have hoped for. I’m sorry too. I missed you. So much.” Formulating coherent sentences had never been so difficult. Ryan sighed.

“You know I’m not coming back, don’t you?” I nodded.

“I know.” He stepped towards me, hesitantly reaching one hand out before pulling away and shaking his head.

“I’m sorry all of this happened to you. I have to go.” He turned and walked swiftly towards the door, pausing once to glance back at me before moving on. Pete appeared next to me as I watched Ryan leave.

"I'm sorry Brendon." I just turned, burying my face into his shoulder. "I'm sorry." I pulled away and he glanced at Thea, unconscious on the floor. "She's your sire bonded now." I wasn't ready. Not in a million years. "You need to take care of her." I nodded and knelt down, lifting her up.

"We need to go back to the base." Pete nodded and smiled sadly. "And I need to talk to Sarah."


	7. Sarah, Thea, Jane (Part 1)

** _1st January 2014 - Pete Wentz_ **  
_‘Differing greatly from the transformation from human to vampire, the change from human to sunwalker is considerably shorter, taking between 12 and 24 hours, and the subject may remain conscious for most, if not all of the shift. However, unconsciousness is not uncommon.’_

Despite Alex’s book reassuring us that this was normal, Brendon was on edge, nervy, talking too fast, moving too fast, unable to keep still, even for a second. He’d crashed at the base overnight, promising to call Sarah in the morning once he’d checked in on Thea, but it was nearing lunchtime and he still hadn’t pulled up the confidence.

“Brendon, come on. If you don’t call her, I will,” I threatened. He huffed, but pulled his phone out of his back pocket and pulled up her number in his contacts. It rang twice.

“Brendon? Thank god. I was worried. Where are you?” Brendon closed his eyes and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"I'm fine. I'm at the base. Listen, I need to talk to you about something. Can you come over?" She sighed on the other end of the phone.

“Not until three. I’m having lunch with friends and then I’ve got a meeting this afternoon. But I’ll be over as soon as I can after that.” Brendon sighed, the tension releasing from his shoulders a little.

"Okay. Love you," he murmured.

“I know. Don’t do anything stupid.” He smiled.

“Promise.” With that, she hung up and Brendon turned to me. “Happy now?” I rolled my eyes and finished unloading the dishwasher.

“What are you going to tell her?” He paused, swearing and then sprinting up to his room. I sighed and followed him up, knocking twice.

“Go away.” I opened the door to find Brendon flopped face down on the navy blue and burgundy red covers of his bed. He turned his face to me. “What on earth am I going to say? _'Hey Sarah, here's the English girl I turned into a sunwalker after having met her twice. Oh, by the way, she's joining the clan and we're going to spend tons of time together and lets all play happy families.'_"

"You want her to join the clan?" Brendon shrugged. 

“If she wants to. She’ll probably have nowhere else to go, and I’m her sire.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he groaned and buried his face in the pillows. I wandered over and sat next to him. “How did you do it? It’s too much pressure. I can’t…” I together a sentence from the muffled words my beta spoke into his bed.

“I didn’t. I didn’t cope well. I decided I couldn’t manage and so I ran away, to Gerard actually.” Brendon turned over to look at me. “I was scared and I thought it was all my fault and that you would hate me. And then when I came back, you were… Alec said you weren’t going to make it. She said you should have died.” He frowned. “Do you remember Eva?”

"The vampire who pulled Luka's sire bond apart? Yeah, why?" 

“When she came out of your head, you were still unconscious, but she spoke to me. She told me that you had two sire bonds, one to Luka and more importantly, one to me. That’s when I found out that Luka only got hold of you because of me. She looked at our bond and told me I’d already used it once, the same way Luka did.” I swallowed. Every word was harder than the last. “I used the bond to order you, to force you to live, the same way Luka forced us to kill. If I hadn’t done that, you’d have died. But then a few months ago, she got in contact again to tell me about something she’d found in an old diary: _‘When a sire uses the bond to give out orders, particularly negative orders, it takes a toll on them, like a scar. The bigger the order, the bigger the scar. But, using the bond also strengthens it, especially if the order is for a positive reason.’_ When I used our bond to force you to live, I strengthened it and unintentionally bonded your life to mine. If the bond is cut, you die. If I die, you die. And I realised when she told me, I jumped of a building to try and end it. If the had worked, I wouldn’t just have killed myself, I’d have murdered you too. I’m the opposite of an example of the perfect sire.” Brendon was silent for a minute, staring at me with a roiling sea of emotions in his eyes.

“I don’t care. You might not be perfect, but no one is. And without you, I would have died.” I smiled, but beneath it, my own ocean of tears threatened to overflow. “I’ll figure out what to say to Sarah. You’re okay with Thea joining the clan though?” I shrugged.

“If she wants to, but it has to be her decision.” Brendon nodded and sat up, sighing. “Come on,” I said, hauling him to his feet, “let’s go check in on her.” He smiled appreciatively and we wandered down the stairs. The doorbell rang as we reached the bottom and I frowned, glancing at my Second. "Any ideas?" He shook his head and opened the door. A familiar looking female hovered awkwardly in the doorway.

"Jane? What are you...? How did you...? I..." I rolled my eyes at Brendon's useless language skills and ushered her in.

"What Brendon was trying to say is how did you find us and what are you doing here?" Jane swallowed.

"I.. Actually I'm here looking for Thea. I know you guys took her somewhere last night. Her parents deserve to bury her at home." Then everything clicked into place, the tear-stained cheeks, the red eyes, the slight wavering in her voice.

"Jane, look, we can't give you a body." She started to protest, not allowing me to get another word in until I managed to hold onto her consciousness long enough to make her be quiet for a second. "We can't give you a body because there isn't one." I released her mind and she stood staring at us in shock?

"What? How?" I glanced at Brendon, willing him to explain.

"Before I say anything, I want to know what connection you two have. Friends? Sisters?" Jane stared blankly at me, shaking her head in disbelief.

"We're together. Not that it makes any difference to you. Why?"

"Unconditionally? No restrictions, no limitations?" Jane shrugged and frowned but gave a half nod.

"On our terms I guess.What does that even mean?" She asked.

"Never mind," I said, trying to come up with a better way to splurt out that her girlfriend was a sunwalker, or at least on her way to becoming one. It seemed Brendon was also attempting to find a good explanation. As it turned out, we didn't have to.

"J?" Thea's voice sounded from the stairs. We turned to find her standing at the bottom. "Why am I in Bandom secret base?" She arched an eyebrow, looking directly between the two of us.

"Uh... hi?" I glanced at Brendon and he just gawped blankly at Thea.

"The last thing I remember was a vampire tearing my neck open, so would someone like to tell me exactly how I'm alive right now?" Brendon swore and glanced at me.

"You're a sunwalker," Brendon blurted out bluntly.

"Oh," Thea and Jane said at the same time. Thea wandered towards her and Jane smiled as the new sunwalker stood on tiptoe to hug her. "Cool," Thea shrugged, slinging her arm around the taller girl's neck. Brendon's jaw dropped.

"You're not mad? Pissed? Angry? Outraged?" I frowned at Brendon as he kept naming increasingly more negative emotions. She shrugged.

"Not really. Why? Should I be?" She looked confused.

"Yeah? Just a little bit!"

"Oh. Well I'm not. I've no idea how I'm supposed to explain things to my mum but hey. Anyway, thanks for saving me, I guess. We should probably get going. We've got flat hunting to do."

"What?"

"I'm moving to LA. I just got a scholarship to AADA and so need to find somewhere cheap to stay. Jane's going to uni back home in Scotland, but she'll visit so we thought we'd go looking together. Though actually, it's new years day, the shops will all be closed won't they?" 

"Hang on. Just slow down a second." Brendon managed to pull himself together long enough to speak. Thea stopped and studied him. "We need to talk to you. You can't go yet?" His voice lilted upwards in a question rather than a statement or demand. Thea rolled her eyes and laced her fingers through Jane's, leading her and us into the living room.

"Okay fine, what is it?"

"You've literally only just finished transitioning. You need something to eat." She tried to protest, but I glanced at Brendon and he disappeared through to the kitchen to reheat some of the blend. "Secondly, Brendon's your sire, you need to sit down and talk about things with him. Things about us and you. Thirdly, we might be able to help you out with somewhere to live while you're at university, if it's okay with you and your parents." She narrowed her eyes but thankfully, Brendon reappeared with a cup of the blend, which he handed to her. She grimaced and downed it in one. I raised my eyebrows and shook my head, sighing. "Brendon?" He stopped staring.

"Sorry. I just, I've never done this before. I don't really know what to say." I elbowed him and he sighed. "You need somewhere to stay while you're at uni. If you want, you can stay here. There's tons of space, plus there's plenty of the blend stored in the basement freezer. So long as you can deal with seventeen males traipsing in and out. But there's Alex. Actually, you might want to talk to her. Anyway, we just thought, if you stay here, you're closer to the clan, to us. But you'd need to check with your parents first." Thea stretched and I heard the faint, worrying pop of several joints.

"Dude. I'm seventeen. But, yeah, maybe. Though I'm not sure why I'd want to be part of a clan. I'm perfectly happy on my own." Brendon shrugged.

"Because. Your clan is your family. To protect each other and be there when we need each other. To help each other learn." Something in Thea's eyes hardened and she set her shoulders.

"Your suggestion has been noted and will be taken into consideration. Jane?" I frowned as the two girls got up, Thea disappearing first. Jane hovered in the doorway.

"I'm sorry. She's...touchy about family. It's not a great topic of discussion." With that, they disappeared and we heard the front door slam closed. I winced as Brendon leaned his head on my shoulder.

"Well that went... horribly." Brendon groaned. "Who knows? Maybe she'll come around." Brendon sighed and stood up.

"I'm going up to my room to hide. I feel like you're about to make an optimistic, motivational speech and I'm not in the mood." I half smiled as he wandered off.

"Don't forget to think about what you're saying to Sarah!" I called after him. A loud shriek of frustration and a slamming door echoed from upstairs.


	8. Sarah, Thea, Jane (Part 2)

**_Brendon Urie_**  
The cool breeze blowing through my open window did little to calm my nerves. I still hadn't figured out what to say to Sarah, and she was due to arrive in twenty minutes. I sighed and stretched, heading downstairs to make coffee. Now that I was a sunwalker and not a vampire, human food and drink tasted almost as good as it did before. I passed Pete sitting in the music room, bass across his lap, word document open with the beginnings of a set of lyrics written out. He waved and I nodded, shutting the door so Sarah and I wouldn't disturb him when she arrived. As it turned out, that happened to be almost immediately after the kettle boiled. I opened the door and smiled awkwardly, hugging my wife and waving her into the smaller of the two living rooms while I poured the coffee and carried it in.

"What's wrong Brendon?" I frowned, wondering how she'd figured that out. She glanced pointedly at my knee which bounced up and down rapidly. It was an annoying nervous twitch that I had zero control over.

"Oh. I just needed to talk to you about something. A few things actually. I just don't know how you'll feel about any of them and so I held off calling you and now I'm more nervous and..."

"B? Slow down. Start from the beginning." I swallowed.

"Right. Sorry. We had the charity concert last night," I began, Sarah listening attentively. "It was all going fine and then, when we were on the last song, there was something wrong. Most of the fans got out. But her people shut four of them in with us." Sarah frowned.

"Who was she?" I stared at the floor.

"Elle," I breathed, her name like a ghost on my lips. "She came back. She wanted me and Pete because we killed... her mate, but Dallon, Patrick and I were the only ones there. All the others were grabbing their weapons. And she had seven or eight vampires with her and... and... and..." I couldn't. It was too much.

"Who?" I glanced up, pleading for her to see. She shook her head slightly, not understanding. "Brendon, who?" I got up, sitting next to her, crossing my legs sideways on the sofa and placing my fingers on her temples. It would be easier to show her. She nodded and I dived in, down into the vaults of my own memories, dragging her consciousness with me. 

_I opened to door that the memory was locked behind, pulling her in. We watched the memory unfold in third person as Elle emerged from the shadows, Ryan with her. Sarah glanced at me, understanding. The memory continued. The trade I made, my life for the fans and my band mates. Then Elle, tearing into my head. The memory went blurry from there, but faded back in as Pete arrived, smashing through Elle's control and ripping her out of my head. The vampires who died with celestial blades through their chests and then the blood pouring from Thea and the blade buried hilt-deep in Elle's chest. Thea, dying, begging me to tell her she was brave and finally, me turning her, the violet light which glowed from the edges of her wounds as they healed._

I pulled us out of my head and she just gave me this look of sadness tinged with aching and longing. "I'm sorry, Sarah." 

"For what? You didn't do anything wrong. You saved people. Even that girl, you saved her. I'm proud of you." I glanced up at her, frowning.

"I don't understand. Why? I offered to let her kill me. And I barely know Thea. I just jumped in without thinking." She moved closer, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"I know. That's why I love you. Because you're willing to do anything for your friends - and for people you barely know. Thea's lucky to have you as her sire."

"What if she doesn't want me? She's only seventeen and I've stolen her whole life from her. I've taken the chance for her to grow up and have a family and a partner who loves her. I've taken everything." Sarah sighed, exasperated.

"No you haven't! I know what you are Brendon, and we're together. And maybe, one day, if and when we're ready, we'll have kids. And so will Thea. You're worrying over nothing."

"I guess. I just... I don't know." She sighed, slipping her shoes off and curling into me on the sofa.

"You don't need to know. Trust that Thea will make her own decisions. Be there for her if things go wrong. It's what Pete and the others did for you." I smiled and remained silent, contemplating her words.

"How do you do that?" She tilted her head, questioning. "You always make me feel better." She grinned.

"It's a gift. Come on. Let's go home." I groaned.

"In a minute. I'm cozy here." Sarah smiled, moving her arms to around my waist, resting her head on my shoulder.


	9. Melt Your Headaches, Call It Home

**_20th August 2014 - Gerard Way_**  
Thea finished her school year in Scotland before texting the clan in the middle of May to let us know she'd be taking up the offer to stay in our base. I was only mildly annoyed that Brendon and Pete didn't tell us before, but we still had three months until she would arrive, which gave us plenty of time to prepare.

Her stuff arrived before she did, appearing on the doorstep mid-August. Thea herself turned up around a week later. She slept for most of the day, letting the jet lag wear off. But, she was up by nine the next morning, sitting in her dressing gown in the smaller of the two living rooms with a cup of super sweet black coffee and a look which gave the distinct impression that if we were to get anywhere close, she would not hesitate to bite our heads off. By ten, she's managed to wake up enough to get into proper clothes and make a bacon sandwich for breakfast. Frank and I were sitting in the dining room when she joined us. Frank glanced between her plate.

"You realise there is literally no point eating human food, right?" Thea glanced up and narrowed her eyes.

"It tastes good." Frank shrugged and we sat in awkward silence for another few minutes until she finished eating. "So, rules? Rent? Is there anything we need to talk about?" She asked. I shrugged.

"Don't think so. Your stuff is in the basement. Pick a room, paint it if you want, then we'll help move your things in. In terms of rent, you're part of the clan, so it's not really necessary, but we have a donations tin in the kitchen. The shopping list is attached to the fridge so if you need anything, write it on there. We take turns to shop, but people are in and out of here all the time. Mostly it's just us, but sometimes we have visitors or family over. If you're bringing friends over, let us know so we can make sure we're out of your way." She nodded.

"Is there anywhere I might be able to get a part-time job?" I nodded.

"I'll text you a list of places to try."

"Cool. Thank you. Oh, the other thing I meant to mention. Where do I practice?" We frowned, confused. "Singing, piano, acting?"

"Oh. We have a huge soundproof music room and studio. It's a bit chaotic, but there's a ton of instruments in there, plus recording equipment if you want to try it out. Just make sure stuff goes back where it came from. And acting, we have a ballroom with a stage if that helps." Thea raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? A ballroom and a stage?" Frank shrugged. "Okay. I have a list of things I need to get, and my mum got the trustees to transfer some of the money from my trust fund into my account early to get me started out here. I need a car. I also need to go into town to get paint for my room. Is anyone able to take me in?" I shrugged.

"I'm about to do the shopping, you can come in with me if you like." She smiled briefly.

"Okay, thank you. I just need to run and do my hair and grab my purse but then I'll be ready." I nodded and she disappeared towards the basement. Frank glanced at me and sighed.

"I wish Pete and Brendon had told us earlier." I shrugged and half-smiled.

"It doesn't matter. Come into the city with us." Frank shook his head.

"Sorry. I've got children to get back to." I shrugged.

"Okay. Just promise not to bite our alpha's head off when he gets back." He rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Fine." I smiled and stood up, hugging him momentarily. "Don't do anything stupid." I raised an eyebrow.

"How can I? I'm leaving all the stupid here." Frank rolled his eyes and I wandered towards the front door. Thea appeared, hair braided out of the way, soon after.

~~~~~~~~~~

Our shopping trip was uneventful. Thea found the paint she wanted and managed to find a small, second-hand car which suited her needs, but wouldn't be ready to pick up for a few days. She was quiet during the car ride back. "What are you thinking about?" She frowned as if she didn't know.

"Just... life, I guess. I never thought in a million years that I'd be here. With you. Or any of the others. It's insane." I smiled.

"Why? Stranger things happen all the time."

"Yeah, but not to me. I mean, back home, I'm an average, B-grade student who happens to be good at music and acting and creative writing. I've only been a fan of the bands for a year and a half and suddenly I get a ticket to the most incredible show I've ever seen. Then an estranged uncle died and left a whole ton of money for me when I reach nineteen. I'm given a scholarship to the drama school I've always wanted to go to and there's somewhere for me to stay, with only minimal rent and a group of people who seem to care about me even though I barely know them. It just seems like everything is going my way." I frowned, confused.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No. But nothing in my life was ever interesting. I was a nobody. I just don't get it." She stayed quiet for a minute. "And I keep realising that you're you and that you're fiction. I keep wondering when I'm going to wake up and have to go back to school in Scotland."

"What do you mean? We're real."

"I know that. But when I first discovered the music, I disconnected the musicians from their albums. It made it easier to deal with never being able to meet you."

"I guess that makes sense. And I'm sorry Brendon and Pete aren't around at the minute. They're out on tour. Tyler and Josh are here for another week and a half, but we're always around if you need to talk." She smiled and leaned her head on the window.

"I know. Thank you." With that, we fell silent, content to just sit and watch the scenery pass by. When we arrived back, I wandered to my room to sit and draw. Thea knocked on the open door in a borrowed shirt and a pair of loose jogging bottoms. I recognised the pattern on the shirt as one of Dallon's which he had abandoned after deeming it too uncool. "Hey, I know it's a lot to ask, but would you be able to do a drawing for me to paint on my wall?" I shrugged and patted the bed next to me.

"What would you like?" We spent the next half hour making small-talk while I sketched out an image for her to paint onto her wall. Brendon called to say hi and Pete sent a barrage of friendly texts. By the time we were done, Thea seemed in a considerably better mood. I helped her paint her room before heading home.

~~~~~~~~~~

** _Thea Elliot_ **  
Gerard disappeared back to his house around five and I finished the final wall a half-hour later, just as someone rang the doorbell. I frowned and wandered down to answer it, surprised at finding Sarah standing with a bag and a smile. "Hi Sarah, come in. I'm Thea."

"I know. I don't know if you eat - Brendon and Pete do - but I brought food," she said, lifting up a bag filled with boxes of various tasty-looking things. I grinned.

"I do, and you have found the way to my heart." She returned the smile and laid the boxes out on the large coffee table in the smaller of the two living rooms. I slumped on the sofa as she handed me a plate, sitting down with her legs stretched out along the opposite sofa. "Out of curiosity, why are you here? I would have thought you wouldn't like me very much."

"Why? Because you're a girl and sired to my husband? I'm not threatened if that's what you mean." I blushed furiously. "Besides, Brendon and I are twenty-seven, you're still a few months shy of eighteen. And if none of that matters, he's honest. He told me about you at the beginning of the year. I just want to be friends." I smiled and nodded.

"That sounds good." 

"So. Studying acting, huh?" I shrugged. 

"Believe it or not, there's a drama queen hiding underneath this," I said, gesturing to myself. "I'm just also quite shy, especially with people I don't know. Most of my family and friends think that being shy would make me a terrible actress." Sarah shook her head.

"That's not true. A lot of actors are shy, or at least not particularly outgoing." I smiled.

"I know! That's why I'm so determined to do this. But I also like script writing, so I'm hopefully going to do a little bit of that too." We sat in contented silence, finishing the incredible food. "You know, I think there should be a girls club, just for us and Breezy and Lindsey the others." She nodded and grinned.

"Sounds like a good idea. Maybe tomorrow, we'll get together. If you need help moving stuff into your room, we can do that." I nodded and smiled.

"I think I'd like that."


	10. This is Gospel

**_December 2014 - Patrick Stump_**  
I heaved a sigh and threw my blade down onto the table. Pete seemed equally exhausted. Despite the tiredness sweeping through me in waves, I grabbed some of the blend from the freezer in the basement and heated it up for him. He smiled appreciatively and collapsed onto the sofa to drink it. I slumped next to him with a bowl of cereal. The hunt had taken longer than we'd expected, and neither of us had come away unscathed. A group of vampires were passing through, creating chaos and bloodshed like the city hadn't seen for three and a half years. Mika told us they hadn't checked in with him - as was customary - and asked us to look into it with a few of his younger, newer vampires to show them how to deal with strays and those who didn't follow the laws he'd set down. The group had been larger than anticipated and better armed. But, we'd dealt with it and Pete had managed to arrange a meeting with Mika to talk and catch up.

Pete's phone rang as I finished my cereal and he showed me the number. Alex. I frowned and shrugged as he answered. "Hey Alex. What's up?" I zoned out of the conversation until I heard Pete swear, violently. "You're serious? And it'll work? Okay. I'll let the others know. Yeah? When's a good time? Tomorrow? That's soon. Okay. See you then. Thank you." He smiled and hung, up, leaning back on the sofa with an expression of shock.

"What happened?" Pete shook his head.

"I can't..." He looked like he was about to cry. I shuffled closer and linked my arms around his neck. Then he did cry, quitely, with the happiest look on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Brendon Urie_**  
The sterile white-ness of the lab made me nervous. The light reflected off the mirrored ceiling and the tiled floor, but I ignored it, holding tightly onto Sarah and Pete's hands. He glanced at me with a smile as we entered a mid-size room with a bed and plenty of monitoring equipment. Sarah had to stay outside with Patrick. I locked eyes with her and she nodded, smiling reassuringly. Alex grinned from across the room as a group of scientists and doctors entered, all dressed in white. The only contrast in the room was the dark jeans and t-shirts Pete and I wore. Alex handed us both a pair of loose grey pants. "Put those on and leave your other clothes outside the room." We stripped quickly, changing in only a fraction of a second. It left our chests bare, but I assumed there was a reason, probably something to do with the wires which hung ominously over the raised sides of the beds. "Who wants to go first?" Pete glanced at me and I shrugged, jumping up onto the bed and lying back. The scientists and doctors linked wires up to my chest and head. One of the scientists began speaking.

"Brendon Urie. Sunwalker test subject 01. Please verbally confirm the answers to the following questions. Do you understand that this is an experimental serum and there is the potential for this experiment to fail?" 

"Yes."

"Do you understand that should the experiment work, unknown side-effects may occur?"

"Yes."

"We have no more questions. Brendon, do you have any questions?" 

"No."

"Good. If you do have any questions during the process, feel free to ask." I smiled and the scientist nodded to the others. "Begin." The machines buzzed to life, beeping steadily and slowly in time with the rhythm of my heart beat. After a minute, one of the scientists handed a small bottle to one of the doctors, who plunged a syringe into the flimsy metal lid and pulled the plunger up. A pale glowing blue liquid slowly filled the syringe and the doctor removed the needle from the bottle. I glanced at Pete, who nodded and smiled, then to Sarah, who echoed Pete's movements as the doctor felt for my vein. I breathed in and let out a long sigh as the needle slid smoothly into my arm.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Pete Wentz_**  
Brendon sighed as the needle found its mark and the doctor pushed the pale glowing blue liquid into his system. The doctors waited. One held a stopwatch, another held a clipboard, occasionally making notes. "Question. What's in it? And what's supposed to happen?" One of the scientists glanced at Brendon, contemplating the strangeness of the question.

"It's a combination of celestial blood and the photosynthetic liquid which is contained in celestial blades." Another scientist nodded.

"We're not sure exactly what is supposed to happen. We did tests on animals before you, but we couldn't get accurate results." Now I was curious.

"What sort of animals?"

"Since this serum is designed to combat the effects of vampire blood, we had to first give the vampire blood to our test subject. We started with rats, then increased the size of the animals until we tested it on monkeys last week. So far, it appears to be working, but the results were a little screwy - we're hoping just because we were using animals. Alongside you and Brendon, we're also testing it on a group of vampires in a room along the corridor." I nodded and glanced at Brendon. So far, everything seemed fine. There seemed to be more he wanted to say, but something held him back. I listened to the slow, steady beat of Brendon's heart. Five minutes in, and everything was fine.

"Okay, I think we can get you started Pete." I glanced up and smiled, glancing at Brendon. He was very still, staring into space, but there seemed to be nothing else wrong. I looked to Alex, hoping she could tell me if anything was wrong, and immediately got my answer. Alex was frowning. She murmured something to one of the doctors and they also began to look worried. Alex moved towards me.

"Stay out of the way, Pete. Please." I nodded, feeling my heart speed up. They lowered the head of the bed as Brendon's body shook violently, the heart rate monitor beeping faster. 30 beats, then 40 and still climbing. It fell so dramatically that my own heart rate increased further, dropping down, back to 20, 15, 10, 5... The machine let out a high pitched noise which didn't end, Brendon still on the bed. The screen showed a single line, not dipping or rising even a little. The doctors moved around him, shining lights in his eyes, checking breathing, reflexes. Nothing. I felt down the bond we shared. _Everyone else was there, the connections like white threads linking us all together. Brendon's was pulsing red. I moved towards it, begging him to come back._

The line on the machine dipped. The doctors and scientists waited with baited breath. Beep. Too slow. Beep. The machine held steady, reading 10bpm. Alex glanced at the doctors. They checked everything again. Too slow reflexes, shallow breathing and glowing violet eyes. Alive but unconscious. _Something tugged in my head. The connection to Brendon still pulsed red. Thea, silent, crying._ She borrowed my eyes to see him before disappearing out of my head altogether. Alex's hand slid into mine, pulling me out of the room and into the corridor where Sarah and Patrick waited. My best friend stared blankly at me, then at the door, realisation hitting him. "No." I couldn't form enough words to make a sentence, so I just leaned into him, needing his warmth. Sarah looked to Alex who glanced towards the door.

"Come with me." Sarah held her chin up and entered the room. Patrick and I watched from the doorway as she stood next to Brendon, resting her hand against his cheek. She turned to me.

"This is your fault. You should have gone first." Her words hurt, but she didn't seem angry, just in pain and alone. She pressed her fingers to Brendon's temples as if she could get inside his head and talk to him, but nothing happened. Eventually the doctors ushered her out. They needed to take blood and run tests to figure out what was wrong. Alex promised to call us as soon as they had news. I knew Sarah wanted to fight, but she stayed silent on the ride back to the house she shared with Brendon.

"I'm sorry Sarah. It should have been me," I said as she opened the car door.

"I know. I'm sorry too."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Alex? You have news?"

"Yes. I've already called Sarah." I put the phone on speaker to let the others gathered around me hear. "There's bad and good. The good news is that Brendon should wake up. There's no obvious reason for the coma, no brain or bodily damage, so it could just be a defense mechanism that his body deploys when he's seriously ill or injured. The bad news is that we don't know exactly how long it will take for him to wake up. The sire connection you two share might help wake him up, if you can link Sarah into it." Various people sighed with relief and I turned speaker off, putting it back to my ear.

"Thank you Alex. What about the Serum? Have you figured out how to make it work?"

"I'm afraid not. And the other test group... Let's just say they didn't make it." I frowned, but she expanded. "The effects of the photosynthetic fluid were too powerful. They exploded, killing four of our lab technicians."

"I'm sorry. Really. I know how much you wanted this to work." She sighed on the other end of the phone.

"It's a setback. But we'll keep working on it. And the vampires we tested it on had killed plenty of people. They came from max-security prisons and there are plenty more of them."

"Still, I'm sorry." A thought struck me. "What about your blood? Healer blood, I mean. Surely that might stabilize the serum." I imagined her shrugging on the other end of the line.

"I'll look into it. But you know I can't turn you back, don't you. I can manipulate DNA, but changing people like that is beyond me." I nodded even though she couldn't see me.

"We know and it's okay, we don't expect you to. Talk later?"

"Yeah. Talk later." She hung up and I wandered around aimlessly before glancing at the clock and realising I was supposed to be picking Bronx up from school.


	11. For the Fallen Ones

**_January 2015 - Gerard Way_**  
When Brendon did finally wake up, he spent a week at home with Sarah, recuperating and allowing time to pull himself back together. Pete and Patrick visited, twice, Pete apparently apologising profusely both times even though Brendon hugged him and promised it was okay, that he was fine. Patrick guessed Pete felt bad because of what Eva had told him a few months back, and he was probably right. 

It was two weeks and three days into January when Brendon decided to visit the base, despite all the packing and equipment checks and practice he still had to do for tour. Often, we had no real reason to be there, other than to escape everyday lives. As lovely as our wives, girlfriends, children, fans and others were, all of us needed a break every so often and the base offered the perfect place to meet up and hang out. We were still hunting as well - when a rogue vampire popped up in town - so the base also provided a safe, secure location to plan in. Brendon was entirely back to his usual self and decided he was ready to hunt. We humoured him, showing him a map tracking the movements of a vampire which had been causing trouble for a few days. He seemed happy, humming to himself as he changed into his hunting gear and stowing a celestial blade in the sheath on his hip.

As it turned out, the vampire was new and had escaped a violent, abusive, illegal clan in Chicago, fleeing here seeking the safety and protection of the LA clan. Why he didn't go to the real Chicago clan was a mystery to us, but he seemed willing to change. Brendon provided him with Mika's contact information and sent him on his way without really having to fight, but promised there would be pain if he continued in the way he had been before. When we arrived back at eleven that night, Thea was waiting for us, sitting on the staircase, engrossed in a book, humming along to Fall Out Boy's new album. I glanced at Brendon and he nodded once so I slipped out again, heading home.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Brendon Urie_**  
"Hey Thea." She barely glanced up. "I'm sorry. We should have told you. We don't normally keep secrets." She closed her book and put it down on the stairs next to her, switching the music off and carefully removing her headphones. Everything about her body language was tense, on edge. The scent on her was the one we shared, my blood ran through her veins now, but above that base, there was something else, a mixed scent, fear and anger, but so much more than that.

"Where's Pete?" I frowned.

"Why? Never mind. He's in Atlanta."

"Georgia?" I nodded. "That's over 2000 miles." Her face fell. Even with our speed, it would take him five or more hours to get here.

"What's wrong?" She looked tired, sad, her eyes too old for her youthful face. I wandered forwards to sit next to her on the stairs. She leaned her head on my shoulder and I found myself draping an arm around her neck.

"I just need to talk to you. Both of you," she murmured quietly into my shoulder, her body shaking, her tears staining my t-shirt. I didn't say anything, just let her cry into my chest like Pete had done for me a thousand times. "I'm sorry. I missed you. I thought you were going to die."

"Not yet, Thea, not yet. I've got a million things I still need to do." She glanced up at my face and her grip slackened, her face falling.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." That was a blatant lie. "I just... you have hundreds of thousands of fans out there. I don't deserve to know you any more than any of them do. Why didn't you let me die?" I frowned, opening my mouth to speak and then closing it, not knowing what to say. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

"No, it does. Tell me. Please?" She stood up and wandered up to the window, staring out into the night, up at the stars. I stared at her back, trying to figure out what she was thinking without invading her mind. That was one thing I'd never done, one thing I'd promised myself I'd never do to her. I stood up, standing just behind her, a little way away, but close enough to touch. She turned from the window, her eyes wandering over me, my face, then my clothes, before settling on the blade at my hip. "Thea?" She stepped closer, her hand resting on the hilt of that blade, flicking the restraining clip out of place and drawing the blade out of its sheath. It was different to the blades most hunters used; theirs were triangular, often twisted, designed to cause maximum damage, while mine was flat, designed to be easily hidden. Usually it lay sheathed on my back, the tip of the blade lying in the centre of my spine, a few inches down from the base of my neck. There, it could stay hidden under a t-shirt while still being easily accessible if necessary. It was particularly useful when I had to perform. After Elle, there was no way I would ever be caught without a blade again.

The blade glinted in the moonlight. Thea ran her fingers over the edges, the two sides, one silver with a liquid sunlight core, one gold with pure concentrated adrenaline, one to kill vampires, one to kill sunwalkers. Deadly, either way. Carefully, she took my hand in hers, pressing the hilt into my palm and closing my fingers, angling the blade at her chest. Then she looked at me, sadness, despair and agony in her eyes. She didn't say anything, held the blade and my hand in hers, pointed at her heart. I shook my head. "No, Thea. Never. Do you understand?" She stared at me, eyes lined with silver tears as she let go of the blade and backed away.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Pete Wentz_**  
"You should tell Brendon. He deserves to know." Patrick's voice interrupted my thoughts. I glanced at Andy and Joe, but neither of them looked up or asked what was going on, which meant they probably hadn't heard. In turn, that meant that Patrick hadn't spoken out loud. I winced and replied along our connection.

_"I know. I'm just... I feel guilty and I don't know what he'll say."_ Across the stage, Patrick almost looked sad, but his expression suggested sympathy - or frustration.

_"Perhaps he'll understand. Have you thought about that? You haven't given him a chance."_ I sighed, knowing Patrick was right. But even though he was, we had shows booked for the next year, with only the smallest of breaks. In truth, so did Brendon's band, so the chance of us seeing each other in the near future for any length of time was slim at best. Our connection was still there, linking our minds together, but this was the sort of conversation we needed to have face to face. Still, I was restless and sleep did not come easily. When it did, one dream replayed itself on a loop.

It took less than a week for me to send a message down our bond, telling him we needed to meet, if not in person, then certainly in our minds. A flicker in my head told me that Brendon was there, waiting, willing to listen, so I dived down towards the flare.

_"What did you want to talk about?" Brendon wandered towards me as I landed on the bridge between our two consciousnesses._

_"Thea. You. Me. Us in general." Brendon lifted an eyebrow._

_"What is it?"_

_"I... When you turned her, did you feel anything? Any strangeness?" Brendon shook his head._

_"Not that I can think of. Why?" I bit the inside of my lip._

_"It's probably nothing." Brendon gave me a look which I interpreted as 'Tell me or else'. I sighed. When you turned her there was a jolt of something in my chest. I can't really explain it, other than that it felt good." Brendon frowned, his face pensive._

_"Maybe ask Priya. Or Alex. There's bound to be something in the book." I swallowed and nodded._

_"Yeah, I guess." Brendon half-smiled._

_"It's probably nothing to worry about. Don't get so worked up. You're our alpha." I winced but he continued. "You're also our friend and our family. We don't give up on family." I smiled._

_"Thank you B. I'll send Alex an email."_

_"My pleasure. Now quit worrying until we know what it is, okay? Go and play a brilliant show." I hugged him momentarily and he grinned as we both left the bridge, emerging into the real world._

"So? What did he say?" Of course Patrick figured it out. He was too smart for his own good.

"He wasn't pissed. He said talk to Alex. She'll have more answers." Patrick smirked.

"Not to say I told you so, but I told you so." I rolled my eyes and opened my laptop, bringing up my email and finding Alex's contact details. Patrick smiled and I focused, trying to tell her exactly what I felt so that she might be able to understand what I meant.

The email pinged away and I sighed, standing up, stretching and picking up my bass.


	12. Remembering

**_Pete Wentz_**  
"I don't understand." Alex sighed and shifted position, rearranging her papers.

"When you named the clan, everyone felt that connection, even the humans. What you felt when Brendon turned Thea was the Alpha power." I stared at her blankly. She sighed. "It's the power that all alphas carry. When an alpha dies, like Luka did, the power transfers to the alpha above them, and then to the rest of the High Council whose job it is to redistribute that power to the next Alpha. You've done that once, remember. Charlie gave Luka's power to you and then shifted it to Mika when you were certain he was the one."

"I remember."

"Good. Now most Alpha power is ancient, centuries, if not millenniums old, passed down, Alpha to Alpha. But, sometimes, on rare occasions, in certain circumstances, when a new clan is formed, new alpha power is created."

"How?" She shook her head.

"That's still unclear. The translation is screwy at best. In one translation it says that any old member turning new members creates Alpha power. Another suggests you need to have a certain number of members. There's a third which implies the Alpha needs to turn new members. Given your experience, I'd assume it was the first, but for all I know, there could be more than one way."

"So that... that jolt was Alpha power?" Alex shrugged.

"It would seem so."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Neither. It is a power which exists solely to mark Alphas out from other vampires. It can be used to allow alphas to control their clan, but it also can also be used for good, to connect and unite the clan and boost power." I breathed half a sigh of relief.

"Thank you. For doing the research, I mean. And visiting." Alex shrugged.

"Didn't mind. Besides, if visiting meant getting tickets to the show..." she grinned and fluttered her eyelids. I raised an eyebrow and smiled. 

"Talk to Patrick, I'm sure he can find a spare somewhere." Alex sighed contentedly and bounced up off the sofa, offering a hand.

"Come on then. Drinks on me?" I smiled and shook my head.

"Can't. The others probably need me for soundcheck. And I'd rather be at least mostly sober for the show." She nodded and hugged me.

"Okay. See you later?" I nodded but she paused in the doorway, seemingly wanting to say something. In the end, she decided against it and left with a sad smile, the door closing quietly behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Brendon Urie_**  
Tour started in less than a week. I would be away for months. Away from Sarah - but we talked all the time - and away from Thea, which was the more concerning factor. After our talk a few weeks ago, her emotions hadn't improved. I'd seen this before, in Pete, Patrick, Tyler, Gerard, myself and the others. Almost all of us had gone through one of these dark periods where the world didn't seem to care about us, but Thea's seemed different, deeper, the emotions running riot, flipping and changing moment to moment. She hadn't hung around our newly-named base, the House of Memories, since our conversation. Though she slept here, she was up late, barely eating lunch before heading to her afternoon classes. She often didn't return until midnight, if not later. I had no idea where she went when she wasn't around us or the base, and several people had spoken to me, saying even they could sense her pain down the spiderweb-bond we all shared. Pete had called me twice asking me to talk to her, but I was struggling to find time. Today was my only free day for months.

"Thea? Dammit. Call me. Please? I need to talk to you." The message left on her phone didn't seem impactful enough. I tried again. "Thea it's me. Listen. I'm sorry. I couldn't let you die. I hope you know I do care about you. I just... Never mind. Come home? Please?" I sighed and dropped my phone onto my bed. She seemed so far away, so unreachable. I lay staring at the ceiling of my bedroom, wondering how I could get through to her. She was eighteen years old. It wasn't so long ago that I was eighteen, struggling with medication and tour and everything else which can possibly suck in a teenager's life. 

~~~~~~~~~~

_**Ryan Ross, April 2006**  
Brendon has spent all morning with his head over the toilet. Well, it was only morning in so much that he had only just woken up. In reality, it was way past three in the afternoon and we were supposed to have a show in just four hours time. I'd hovered close by, ferrying cups of water to him when he felt too weak to move. At the minute, he couldn't even stand. Spencer and I had talked about cancelling the show, but neither of us had told our tour manager to actually do it yet. I glanced at the pills in Brendon's open drawer on the tour bus. Medication for ADHD, depression and anxiety as well as painkillers for the headaches. I'd seen him take more than he should, but I'd always been there to stop him. Me or one of the others. I didn't know whether this sickness was illness or the result of a mild overdose last night. Or it might have been the alcohol someone had managed to sneak onto the bus. Or any combination of the three._

_He might have been weaker than a newborn, but at the suggestion that we should cancel the show, he hauled himself to his feet, leaning heavily on the sink and snarling. The show must go on. I was tempted to tell him to screw his damn motto, but this was Brendon, and he was so unbelievably stubborn. His voice was little more than a rasping scrape like trying to draw water from a dry well. It was painfully obvious that he wouldn't be able to walk or sing or do anything other than lie in bed. I swept him off the ground, laying him down on his cot in the recovery position with a bucket close by. As much as he tried to fight me, there was a bone-deep exhaustion which stopped him from getting up. The more concerning factor was his skin, the shade pale as death, I could feel the heat radiating without even touching him. But he kept repeating one word: cold. I wrapped a thin blanket around his shoulders and wandered to the venue to do sound check. It wasn't like I couldn't sing, and I could definitely do it for one show, but that was Brendon's job._

_"60 minutes!" Someone called from somewhere, rousing me from my thoughts. After soundcheck, I'd headed back to the bus to check on Brendon, who had been soundly asleep. Now, he was sitting up, staring at the drawer beneath his cot, which I hadn't closed. He carefully emptied one of each onto his palm before adding a second pain pill and reaching for the bottle of water lying next to his pillow. The drugs went down, one by one, even though his hands shook. He stood and searched for semi-clean clothes, throwing them on despite the burning of his skin. IF he went on stage at all, there would likely be no make up tonight._

_But Brendon seemed determined. He sat in front of his mirror backstage, clenching his fists to try and stop the shaking. Spencer and I kept an eye on him while we were getting ready, pulling on our clothes and tuning my guitar and Brent's bass. Hands still shaking, he sighed, staring forlornly at the picture of his usual make up before disappearing through the door. The resounding echoes of his vocal warm up penetrated the walls of our changing room. Even ill, his voice was pushing through. Just. He ran up and down the scales, pushing his voice to the edge. Usually, he'd push over the edge, forcing his voice higher than the last time. He'd gained six semitones - half an octave - so far. Today, he stopped shy of those notes after finding his voice cracked on even just the first one. Spencer glanced at me. Brendon would perform tonight - illness be damned. I ran through our backup plan in my head. Should Brendon need to go offstage, I would take over vocals and we'd change any songs in the set which relied on Brendon's skills as a pianist. I hated that we even needed that plan, but it was on nights like this that it came into effect._

_By the time we got onto stage, I was nervous. More nervous than I'd been in a long while. Brendon was still shaking, still pale, still burning. As we wandered into place under the cover of darkness, I watched the physical change in Brendon: Shoulders pulling back and straightening, chin lifted and jaw set. But underneath it, I could see him retreating into himself._

_The show didn't go badly, but it didn't go particularly well either. Brendon struggled with the higher and lower notes, sometimes switching octaves mid-song. It worked, we'd both done it before, but it made for a confusing performance. He stumbled off stage at the end, shaking, collapsing into his cot on the tour bus without even changing. I didn't want to invade, but this was bad, worse than I'd ever seen him before. Spencer was next onto the bus, hovering in the entrance, leaning his shoulder on the doorframe. "We should take him to a hospital." I glanced at him, then at Brendon._

_"I know. But he'll be so pissed." Spencer shifted position._

_"He might be. But it's been two weeks and he's just been getting worse. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather he tells the press that Brent's leaving than either of us." I shrugged. It didn't really make a difference, but Brendon had always been better at public speaking, even if that was only talking to the newspapers and magazines that took a vague interest in us. _

_By the time Brendon was better, he was worse. Although his temperature and vocal range had returned to normal, his mind was plummeting. His energy was missing and he just seemed numb to the world. He slept more and hid away from us, preferring to keep his own company._

_**June 2006**  
Everything changed. Brendon was sitting opposite me in a hotel room, entirely ready to go to sleep, just staring blankly at the three half-full bottles of medication on the desk in our shared room. He'd taken the ones for this evening. Before I had the chance to ask what he was doing, he stood up and picked up one of the bottles, staring at the label for a long moment before unceremoniously dumping it and the others in the bin. I sat up, but he didn't talk, just climbed into bed._

_The effects of the medication didn't wear off for two days, but when they did, Brendon came back. Every ounce of energy and madness and mischievous intelligence flooded back to him, like the dam had finally burst. The creative spark reappeared, the flickering light of life in his eyes shifted, growing stronger. He played well and sang better. There was one night, two weeks after he threw his medication away that he glanced at me across the stage, eyes and grin wicked as he prepared to backflip off Spencer's drum riser. That show might possibly have been the best of the entire tour. _

_And then time skipped along, it was August and we were at the Reading and Leeds festival in England. The sun's afternoon light rained down, sending waves of heat over us and the assembled audience. We were playing, Brendon valiantly defending us from the bottles being thrown at the stage. He turned, stumbling as one hit him in the temple and collapsing to the floor. We stopped playing in a rather cacophonous way, each instrument's sound dying individually. But he got up and demanded we go back on stage, the defiance bright in his eyes and loud in his voice as he told the audience that they would _**never**_ keep him down._


	13. The Medical Report

**_April 2015 - Tyler Joseph_**  
"She did what?!" I winced as Brendon's voice emanated loudly from my phone. "Why? How is she? Where is she? Hang on, I'll book a flight home, try to talk to her."

"Brendon stop. She's fine. You would know if she wasn't. I don't know where she is and I don't know why she did this, but you do not need to come home." It took an hour on the phone to persuade Brendon that everything would be fine. Even if I wasn't feeling that way myself, he needed to, for the fans. When he finally hung up, I slumped into my spinny chair and twirled around aimlessly, staring at the ceiling. I glanced at the medical report sitting on my desk and winced, opening it to find the same photos and paperwork I'd first seen a few hours ago. I wasn't entirely sure why I expected it to be different. It wasn't necessarily bad, more worrying and concerning than anything else. I sighed and closed the report. I knew what it said off by heart: _Male, 49, caucasian, bite wounds on the wrists. Moderate blood loss, treated with a transfusion of three units._

I pulled out my phone and texted Thea. There was no reply. Thankfully, the humans didn't yet know about sunwalkers. Or healers. Or celestials. Or any of the other species which existed out there in the world. So they'd put the bite marks down to a vampire, perhaps one who'd lost two fangs. The truth wasn't any better. I tried focusing - on writing songs, on packing for the tour which started in three weeks - but neither of those things took my mind off Thea and the medical report.

What was worse was that three out of the four American bands were either already away on tour or about to go away. Admittedly, My Chem were still here, and they were more experienced than any of the rest of us, but they had split up. They were working on solo projects or away performing. And Thea's other favourite band, Area 11, were in England. Which wouldn't be so bad if Thea had inherited Brendon's psychic ability - the clan web worked, but the connections were shaky at best and unless Brendon or Pete were funnelling their power into it at that moment, communication was essentially impossible - but as sunwalkers, inheriting your sire's power or ability wasn't guaranteed, and Thea hadn't yet shown any signs of being at least a little bit psychic.

Besides, Brendon had already tried funnelling his power into the web. It had worked - sort of. Thea's mind was still there, still connected to the rest of ours, but even with a combined effort from Pete and Brendon, the walls of black surrounding her mind were impenetrable, not quite solid, but rather endless black smoke which went on for miles without there being any sign of her mind on the other side. They'd eventually pulled out, deeming it impossible to find her or her memories. Or anything which might have been vaguely useful in discovering her location.

I glanced at the file again and opened it back up, opening a new internet tab at the same time and typing the man's name into google. Various things popped up, but news articles were my primary focus. He owned three companies, had a wife - divorced - and four children, the oldest and youngest were girls and the middle two were twins, one boy, one girl. The wife took the children. Remarried with another two daughters, the oldest of which had filed a report for abuse and... The ongoing court case was not going well for her. But, at eighteen and a half, she was old enough to move out and now lived with her half sister, the youngest child of his previous marriage. The more interesting factor - she attended the same school as Thea. 

I tapped my pen against my forehead, glancing at the scribbled writing on the notepad next to me. Two in the afternoon on a Thurdsay. I stood abruptly and wandered towards Thea's room. Her timetable was pinned to the door, telling each of us when she was in classes. The other laminated sign was flipped to 'DO NOT DISTURB'. That was usually only there when she was sleeping or studying. I traced my finger along to the day and time. No lesson today. I grimaced and wandered down yet another flight of stairs, finding Gerard sitting on the kitchen counter. 

"Hey Gee. Don't suppose you know if we have a police badge?" He shrugged.

"Check the cupboard next to the third floor bathroom." I nodded my thanks and ran upstairs, digging through the multitude of boxes. One was labelled 'Accessories', so that is where I began. Soon enough, I had what I was looking for. I changed into more suitable clothes and clipped the badge to my belt, along with my hunter licence. Most police detectives carried a gun. I winced, knowing full well we didn't have one. Between the... however many of us there were, not a single one of us owned a gun. I sighed and resorted to sticking a celestial blade into a sheath across my back, hidden under my shirt. I wasn't sure I'd get away with it, but I needed to try, for Brendon's sake.

The people in the reception were very helpful, phoning through to the girl's class and requesting she come through to a meeting room, which I was then guided to. The girl appeared relatively quickly. She seemed guarded - not nervous - but certainly tense. "Hi Hannah, I'm Tyler. I need to talk to you about Thea Elliot." She frowned but sat down opposite me and nodded. "Do you know where she is currently?" The girl began to shake her head, but stopped.

"I have an idea. But I shouldn't tell you."

"Why not?" I asked gently, holding myself back. This didn't need to get messy.

"Because. Thea's my friend and she asked me not to tell anyone." Of course she did. "Do you have any news?" I frowned, confused. "About the case?"

"Oh. No." Her face fell. "I'm sorry there isn't anything I can tell you. I'm sure someone will be in touch when there is news." She picked at her nails.

"Yeah. I guess." She paused, silently contemplating me. "Look, I'll give you the location. Just, promise me you won't tell her that I told you?" 

"Why now?"

"Because. I know what Thea is and what she's done. She needs help and I think the people in your clan are the only ones who can give it to her." I nodded as she scribbled words down in my notebook.

"Thank you." She shrugged and left without another word, just a backwards glance and a silent plea.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Thea Elliot_**  
I sensed his presence before I saw him. "I don't want to talk to you. Or anyone." He didn't reply. Soft footsteps moved closer and I turned my head away until something soft pushed itself under my arm, resting on my knee. I frowned, glancing down to find the head of a cheetah, it's earnest chocolate eyes staring up at me. They told me he shifted, but I never expected this. Whatever was going on, he seemed to understand the need for silence. 

We sat in sad contented silence for an hour or more, gazing at the sky, watching lazy clouds pass by. At some point, Tyler rolled onto his back and I absent-mindedly scratched his belly, before realizing exactly what I was doing and blushing until my face was a too-bright shade of red. But Tyler growled softly, lifting his head to frown and I smiled, returning to rubbing circles through his fur. The motion clearly soothed him as much as if did me. The cheetah sighed, lifting a paw and resting it on my chest, over my heart, with a soft purr, like Tyler was trying to understand. I stood up slowly, shaking my head.

"I can't come home. Please tell me you understand?" He shook his head. "Then I'm sorry," I murmured under my breath, taking off into the trees. I heard his near-silent paws padding into the forest after me, the sound of breath as he searched for my scent and the resigned sigh as he refused to intrude. Bone cracked like twigs as he shifted back again and a pang of concern fluttered in my chest like a butterfly. It didn't leave even after I arrived, exhausted, at Hannah's flat. Lying on the spare bed and staring up at the ceiling, the feelings subsided, leaving only the emotionless void which tucked itself right between my lungs. 

This feeling was familiar, like an ex returning after a break-up. The aching as you struggle to breathe and the pounding of drums in your head and the rivers of tears which won't stop - then putting the lid back on the bottle, the tears drying as your lungs remember how to function. The only sign that it ever happened is the pounding in your head, but even that will be gone by morning. For now, you tell yourself that life sucks and you just have to get over it. You turn that sadness and agony - whatever the cause - into anger, you force yourself to push through and stay alive, no matter the cost. I've found stubbornness and rage beats sadness. So you forge your pain into white-hot fury and then let it cool into ice, forging yourself into a weapon, even if it hurts others, that's how you stay alive. At least, that's what I did.


	14. Alone Together

**_Easter 2016 - Brendon Urie_**  
By the time we were all together at the same time again, it was about a year later. The next April to be precise. The British band flew over to join us, bringing a whole load of easter eggs which we wholeheartedly thanked them for. I remembered my own Easters. Fridays spent pretending to be sad, followed by long boring Sundays in church. The chocolate was the only good part.

Anyway, the point is, we started on a good note. We woke up late, not even rolling out of bed until nearly eleven. Then we devoured the chocolate eggs and chatted. Thea was mysteriously missing, but that wasn’t new, we hadn’t seen her since she spoke to Tyler, her stuff had vanished from the base while we were all away, and the reports of blood-drained but not dead victims continued to pour in. Other than that, everyone else was there. Around one, a few more people showed up - wives and girlfriends mostly - each of them with a child or two. Someone organised an easter egg hunt. The kids picked people to be on their teams. I ended up with Gerard and Bandit and Dallon eventually asked me to keep an eye on Amelie since he was busy with Knox. As it turned out, Bandit and Amelie were surprisingly fast friends. They were also particularly good at finding the eggs, which meant we had a continual job of stealing them back for the other kids. 

Eventually and despite Patrick and Pete's protestations, they all settled down in front of Big Hero 6 - apparently their favourite movie - and allowed us to talk quietly in the background.

By the time we'd finished talking, it was almost half past four and Pete graciously offered to cook dinner, providing Patrick and Sarah helped him. I took Gerard to check on the kids and had a minor heart attack upon finding both Bandit and Amelie, as well as Bronx, missing. We found them in the smaller of the two soundproof music rooms, Amelie and Bronx watching enamoured as Bandit sang a note-perfect version of _'Immortals'_ into the microphone we occasionally used to record, with only the karaoke version of the track playing on the computer. How the group of roughly seven-year-olds had managed to set it all up on their own, I had no idea. Gerard hovered next to me, watching his daughter with the most contented look on his face. I smiled, shaking my head and rolling my eyes. As the track finished and our clapping joined Bronx and Amelie's, they glanced at us. Bandit grinned and ran over.

"Was I good?" Gerard nodded, sweeping her into his arms and settling her on his hip.

"You were perfect." Her beam of happiness practically outshone the sun. I ushered the others back towards their parents and helped Sarah with the food.

~~~~~~~~~~

Patrick left first, swiftly followed by most of the others, with Gerard disappearing last at around seven, I was exhausted. ADHD only gets you so far. Tyler and Josh stayed behind to help me wash up, but they then vanished to the studio to record.

We were not expecting a knock on the door at nine, but I opened it to find Spencer standing on the doorstep with a lazy grin, which I returned as he pulled me into a fierce hug. "Missed you."

"You too. It's been a while." Spencer stepped inside and closed the door carefully behind him.

"I know. But I needed it. B? I got clean." I turned slowly, my heart jumping.

"Completely?" He nodded. "That is the best news I've heard in a long time." He smiled and shrugged.

"I needed to do it. For myself, but also for you." Everything felt awkward, like my body was occupying too much space.

"So what now? You coming back?" He shook his head.

"No. I don't think it would do me any good. Don't get me wrong, I love the fans, and I love the new music, but I'm done with all of that. I was thinking about asking if I could work with Pete. I want to be a talent agent."

"I can see that. Oh, hang on a sec, Sarah is in the lounge." I wandered through, waving for her to follow me into the kitchen. Upon catching sight of Spencer, she also smiled, hugging him and catching up. The doorbell rang for the second time and Sarah frowned, opening it to find perhaps the most unexpected sight: Pete and Ryan side by side in a very-obviously-uncomfortable silence. Spencer's breathing hitched as Ryan entered first, followed by Pete who casually announced that he'd left something important and disappeared to fetch it.

"Hey." Spencer lifted an eyebrow.

"It has been literally years and all you have to say it hey?" Ryan shrugged and glanced at Sarah, standing semi-defensively in the open doorway. She followed him towards us and I rolled my eyes, shutting the door and arriving back in the time it took Ryan to blink. He seemed nervous - or uncomfortable - but he didn't say anything about it.

"I know. I just... I... Never mind. This is stupid, I should go." He turned to leave and I moved towards him, catching his arm.

"Don't. Please." He glanced down at my hand. He didn't get any further as the door slammed open, the tension only increasing as Pete appeared again, just in time to see Thea step into the entrance. My instincts pricked and I didn't notice my fangs clicking into place until I saw Pete's do the same thing. I moved Ryan behind me, flicking violet eyes at him in warning. 

Hungry glowing eyes bored into me from the doorway making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. As I turned to face her, a sharp pain ripped through my right temple like a bullet. I raised a hand, finding a trickle of my blood - violet in colour since my shift from vampire to sunwalker - running down my face. Pete shot worried eyes towards me but I shot a comment along our connection. _'I'm fine. What's our move?'_ He faced Thea.

_'Initial assessment. Shoot ideas at me.' _ I nodded once, focusing.

_'She's angry.'_

_'Yes. And?'_

_'I can hear you.'_ Thea's mental voice pierced into mine and Pete's consciousnesses like a spear. So, my psychic ability had transferred onto her. How she'd managed to hide that from our clan, I had no idea. Behind me, I could _feel_ Ryan attempting to process Thea - who he'd seen at the brink of death - walking and... well... glaring.

"Spencer, take Ryan and Sarah into the lounge," I asked, without turning around. He seemed inclined to argue.

"No. Don't move." Thea's voice held enough command to hold Spencer in place. I frowned. Luka could use his alpha power and sire bond to force his clan and the occasional human into doing whatever he wanted, but I had _never_ seen an average vampire do it, and certainly never any sunwalkers. And I was pretty sure it was against the rules of the High Council.

"Thea," I warned, trying to push some semblance of command into my own voice, not that I ever wanted to control her, but it seemed to be the only option. She turned glowing eyes to me, but Spencer stayed very, very still, held in place by her power, so I tried a different approach. "Thea, please let him go." 

It was like she had snapped out of a trance. Spencer stumbled forward, swearing as he hit his elbow off the counter. Thea's eyes returned to their natural blue, fangs retreating as she stumbled backwards. I was entirely speechless as her whole body shifted, a feline form landing neatly on all four paws. Pete glanced at me, dropping his guard. I felt Sarah's hand slip into mine, her fingers tracing their way from my chin to the neat hole where blood still ran from my temple. Once she was sure I was okay, she pressed her lips to my cheek and gave me a half smile, squeezing my hand before ushering Spencer - still rubbing his elbow - and Ryan into the lounge. By the time I turned back to Thea, she was in her natural form, the anger and defiance replaced with a blank expression which I couldn't read.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Pete Wentz_**  
“You know what you just did, right?" She barely acknowledged my question. I shook my head, trying desperately to understand. "How can you be so cold? How can you just not care?” I asked. She was silent, but she raised her head to look at me, her blue eyes holding no life.

“Because I’ve cared about people before and I’ve pretended to care about people and all it gets you is pain and heartbreak. I’m not like you. I’m empty and it aches to breathe, to keep on living despite the fact there’s nothing that can fill the hole in my chest.” 

“You're lying.” Brendon murmured gently to her. She looked to him with those dead eyes. "I'm sorry." She snarled softly, turning away.

“Yes, you’re sorry. Everyone’s sorry,” she said bitterly. “You want the truth? I’m cold because I’ve been hurt and afraid, I know what it’s like. So when I was twelve or thirteen, I decided maybe it would be better if I didn’t feel, if I pushed everyone away, because then…then I couldn’t get hurt. Because then I wouldn’t hurt anyone else. I promised myself that I would be strong, that I would set like stone, I would be ice and steel forged from fire, unyielding, unbroken. And it was all a lie.”

Brendon reached out a hand, offering his heart. “We’ve all been hurt. We’re all broken.”

Thea stared at Brendon, her eyes empty. Hollow. “No one cares if you’re broken.” She held herself like a queen, lifting her chin, setting her shoulders and I watched as she desperately grasped for something to hold on to, some spark of hope. “No one cares if you’re broken,” she continued, “because everyone is too damn busy holding the broken pieces of themselves together to try and help anyone else.” I’d felt that before. That feeling that no one else in the world would ever care about you. That you were nothing and no one. I understood it. “Most people…” something snapped inside her and her voice raised as she carried on.

“But not me. Because, I’m not important. Not significant. I’m nobody, so why should how I feel matter. I had to hold my mother and sister together because my father ripped a hole through their hearts, not in the way that a vampire can, but in the way that a psychopath and a master of emotional manipulation can. I’m who I have to be in order to hold everyone else together and I push down how I feel because I’m scared, I’m terrified that if I let it out, if I tell someone how I feel, I’ll break, and I’ll never be able to pick up the pieces. I’m terrified that I’ll be screaming for someone to help and no one will hear. I thought, maybe if I pretend not to be afraid, I wouldn’t be, but I’m still terrified. I’ve had my heart shattered so many times and I can’t…I can’t watch it fall apart again. And there’s this pain in my chest, this empty nothingness that never goes away. Ever.” She looked up at Brendon, tears running down her face as she pulled a dagger - a celestial blade - from a sheath attached to her belt, pressing it into his hands and angling it at her heart. I hadn't even realised she'd moved closer. 

This was a girl who’d seen the monsters of the world. Not vampires, not the bloodsuckers who come in the night and steal your life. She’d seen the monsters without glowing eyes and fangs who passed for human, she knew the psychopaths who could ruin a life just by being in it, who stole your heart and left it in shattered pieces on the floor. The people who would drain your life, not in minutes but in years, who didn’t kill you but who drove you to end it. And yet, she was still here. Still fighting. I’d thought Patrick was strong, but her…she never caved. Never gave in to her demons.

_I reached my mind towards hers, finding walls of solid black stone, wreathed in shadows. I pushed, fought through, closing my eyes and focusing. On the surface, it was laughter and fun, fantasy, a whole world built inside her head to protect her from whoever had caused her pain. But beneath the surface, it was so loud, filled with screaming, layer after layer of memories - pain and suffering and heartbreak. At the bottom lay a small, broken little girl, no more than ten years old, sitting in silence. She stood up as my mind manifested in hers, walking towards me. The faintest glimmer of hope in a sea of overwhelming darkness. As I glanced around, I noticed the edges. Not a room as I had first imagined, but a flat open space. The edges were versions of the little girl, standing, fighting the shadows which threatened to overwhelm her. She stared up at me._

_“I have to choose.” I frowned and she moved to the side, revealing two pedestals. On one sat an object, not quite spherical, almost ovular in shape, but the purest white, clean, the matte surface smooth, the object light and elegant. On the second sat an identical three-dimensional oval, pitted and burned and blackened and reeking of despair._

_“What are they?” She didn’t reply. Despite the ugly nature of the second shape, there was a compelling allure to it which made me realise why she hadn’t immediately chosen the first object. It took me a moment, but I recognised it. The first object represented silence and nothingness, offering death as a way out. The second object represented life, and all that came with it, good and bad._

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Thea Elliot_**  
I was spiralling. Again. And just like every other time, I couldn’t find anything to stop it. Just the endless spiral into tears, despair and the aching hole in my chest which became so much louder when I let out the things that hurt. I'd seen the looks on their faces. They didn't know how to help me. But even _I_ didn't know how to help me, so how could I possibly expect them to know either?

Pete was in my head, I could feel it. In the centre where the question lay in the silence, I heard him. “You’re hurt. You’re broken. But we’re here and we won’t give up on you. Not in the next thousand years, nor for a million after than." He paused, and in the real world, my eyes locked with his. "What are you going to do about it?” His voice whispered inside my head. So I replied. I told him what I was going to do.

~~~~~~~~~~

_**Pete Wentz**  
The girl replied: “I’m going to rise. I’m going to pull myself together. I’m going to get the hell up.” She threw her shoulders back and lifted her chin. "And I'll do it again and again and again. I will not give up." She marched towards the second podium, towards the mangled, gnarled object lying atop it, sweeping it up and staring at it. She glanced at me with half a smile as the object exploded through her mind, throwing me out._

Thea wiped her tears off her cheeks, gently taking the blade from Brendon's hand and sheathing it again before throwing her arms around my neck. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologise. You haven't done anything wrong. You know we're here, if you need us." She nodded and pulled away.

"Thank you." I nodded once and wandered towards the lounge, pausing in the doorway while she hugged Brendon. Sometimes, all it takes to save a life is to tell someone that you're there for them, for them to know that you truly do care and they are not alone. I thought about all the fans out there, struggling with their battles, however big or small. Sending out a silent thought to each of them, I hoped they understood. Even loneliness can be conquered by the knowledge that there are others like you. 


	15. Jane, Thea, Pride, Hamilton and Lin-Manuel Miranda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> January 2016  
There are a lot of different perspectives in this, so do check whose PoV it is.  
Also this is kinda long.

**_Jane Allan_**  
Having one unexpected letter from one of your all-time favourite idols fall into your lap at lunchtime is a surprising enough experience. Which is what made it entirely unfathomable that a second letter fell into my lap. Not black card and gold pen like before. This was entirely different. Cream-beige card with violet writing which smelled like lavender, sealed with a violet wax seal as opposed to the gold wax of the previous letter. Someone had a flair for the dramatic. My mum looked curious more than anything, while my dad was too preoccupied with his food to notice. And I had no clue where my brother was - other than somewhere that was not here. The envelope and the lavender pen - even the wax seal - wasn't unusual, that's how Thea's letters arrived, when she remembered to write (mostly it was much easier to use Messenger). It was the handwriting that confused me. Not Thea's nearly-illegible scrawl, this was a more elegant scrawl, one which perfectly matched the gold pen on the black envelope from before.

The letter contained three things: The first, a letter signed by Brendon Urie, mentioning that they would meet me at the airport and not to worry because it had all been cleared with my university. The second items were plane tickets from Inverness to New York and back again. By the time I reached the final thing, I was already shocked and overwhelmed. So when I glanced at the piece of simple white card with printed black writing, it took my brain longer than it should have to process the words. Then there was nothing in the world that could have stopped me from bursting into tears while laughing.

My mum, of course, didn't seem able to fathom what had gotten me so emotional, but I knew for a fact that my brother would be so pissed when he found out. The flight was dated for a week after the letter had arrived, which gave me plenty of time to pack. I had been at home for the holidays and I still wasn't due back in university for another two weeks, but the final plane ticket was dated three weeks from now. Somehow, despite the fact that it was, well, me, I wasn't worried. I was getting the best possible holiday of all. Still, nerves in my stomach almost meant I didn't get on the plane.

By the time I stepped onto the concrete of the runway in New York, I knew that somehow, this would be the best week of my life.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Thea Elliot_**  
Jane paused the moment she caught sight of me before grinning wildly and running forwards, abandoning her suitcase in the process. Frustratingly, I still hadn't grown, and by now, was beginning to accept that I was stuck at 5ft4 for the rest of my life, but she had gained another inch since I'd last seen her and had now hit 5ft11. That meant I was the perfect height for her to lean on with an arm slung around my neck. Pete grabbed her case and we chattered almost non-stop to the hotel.

I explained that Alex, Patrick and Pete would be here for the whole time she was due to stay in New York, and Joe, Andy and Twenty Øne Piløts would be here for most of it, but Brendon and Dallon would only be here from the 13th to the 18th as they had a show on the 19th and had to fly back to LA during the night. Jane just looked entirely at a loss for words.

When I explained that we wouldn't just get to see one of our all-time favourite musicals, but also to watch B's show, where the other two bands were playing as opening acts, she actually did stop talking altogether. That afternoon, when I was working on a script-writing assignment due in the following week, the faint sounds of Pete coaching her through how to play the bass line to a song which was vaguely familiar echoed through the wall. By the evening, she was talking more than I'd ever seen. Pete had given her a pick which she apparently vowed to keep with her at all times.

"I thought Kogie was your favourite bassist?" She looked entirely torn at that point, but settled on Pete due to proximity, although when Dallon arrived, I felt like there would definitely be more animated conversations which included in-depth analysis. 

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Pete Wentz_**  
The morning of the 12th was good in the general sense that nobody was dying and nobody required our help. Around a foot of snow had blanketed the city during the night, but the sun was blazing through my window when I awoke, which very temporarily made my eyes involuntarily shift to violet. Patrick had a list of things he wanted to do while we were in New York, before Joe or Andy arrived because he knew Joe would spend forever in a guitar shop that he particularly liked. Patrick preferred to stick to a schedule and was relatively unfussy, which made him amazing to shop which because it was always done in half the time it took anyone else. I knew I tended to buy things I didn't need, though not as often as people might like to think. when if came down to shopping for the House of Memories, we had banned Thea from ever shopping again. She was sent off with around twice the amount of money she would need and returned with only a fifth of the total sum. 

We headed out around 10, leaving Alex, Thea and Jane with a note saying to meet us for lunch at a specific cafe at 1. Andy, Tyler, Josh and Joe were also due to meet us there.

By the time we arrived, Patrick had found most of the stuff he wanted - which included several notebooks full of blank manuscript paper, which meant that his mind was swirling with ideas. I bet on at least two notebooks being filled by the end of the trip, and Joe thought it would be five but Andy raised an eyebrow and didn't give a number. Lunch went well, and though Thea had grown used to our constant chatter, the look of awe and amazement on Jane's face was priceless, but even better when Patrick and I decided to strike up a conversation.

She was training to become a psychologist - which made sense - she was easy to talk to and didn't make you feel inferior. She questioned mine and Brendon's power - particularly our psychic and sound manipulation abilities. I explained that we could hear sounds most vampires couldn't hear, let alone humans, and if Patrick wanted, I could autotune his singing live - not that he needed it. The psychic abilities were harder to explain; we knew they'd come from Luka, but they should also have gone away when he died. Even so, when I focused hard, I'd discovered I was able to see people's strings of attachment. Some people didn't have any, some people only had one or two and some people had dozens. They were like little threads of light connecting people together. The brighter the light, the closer the relationship. The one between Thea and Jane was practically blinding.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next two days were mostly uneventful - Brendon swept in on the 13th, always the happy-go-lucky puppy, hugging Jane and Thea before heading to his hotel room to sleep and practice. The 14th was also entirely unremarkable, although we met considerably more celebrities than we'd imagined. The fifteenth rolled around almost too slowly. None of us got up before eleven - apart from Jane who insisted upon writing up a paragraph of an essay for her university course. Brendon and Dallon's army of helpers spent much of the day setting up, with occasional assistance from the rest of us.

The evening also came much too slowly. The concert began at 7. The opening acts would have half an hour each and then Panic! would play 8-10. We'd received word that someone famous would be in the audience, but we didn't know who.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Thea Elliot_**  
The concert began bang on time, beginning with tøp. Despite having lived around them for a year and a half, the novelty hadn't worn off yet. There were still occasions where I would sit outside the door of their practice studio and do homework while listening to them. Sticking headphones in to listen to your favourite band is nice, listening to them live is always better, especially when it is permissible to do so in your pyjamas. FOB came on second, commanding the stage until the very moment Brendon appeared - perfect hairdo, black leather pants and gold jacket - to do 20 Dollar Nosebleed. It was then that they took their bows and Panic! replaced them. Jane nudged me around nine-fifteen. "Is that who I think it is?" "What? I don't see anyone?" I yelled over _'Hurricane'_. Jane continued to squint in that direction but eventually shook her head.

"Never mind. I must be seeing things." I just grinned.

"I have to go to the toilet." She nodded and I slipped out, grinning to myself.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Jane Allan_**  
Thea disappeared towards one of the side doors and I focused my attention on the stage, where Brendon had begun another new song off the album which had been released earlier in the day: _'Emperor's New Clothes'_. The entire crowd went wild. As his finished, he grabbed water, the crowd falling relatively quiet as he flipped the microphone and gave the grin he knew people couldn't resist. He didn't say a thing as the opening notes for _'I Write Sins'_ blurred with the screams of the audience. As we expected him to begin singing, he mouthed the words, the microphone still well and truly away from his lips. An all-too-familiar female voice echoed across the crowd and Thea emerged in a black and gold dress, designed to match the colours of Brendon's golden jacket, with a matte black microphone raised. In the three and a half minutes since disappearing from my side, she'd managed to change clothes and someone had managed to style her long golden hair and apply black and gold makeup to her eyes. Her voice didn't shake. Brendon offered her a hand and she grinned as he joined her.

"says the bridesmaid to the waiter," she finished the line.

"Oh yes but what a shame," Brendon cut in, "what a shame the poor groom's bride is a..."

Thea yelled the final word of the verse in complete synchronization with the rest of the audience as Brendon grinned. I rolled my eyes and they sprang into the chorus.

After the song ended, Thea disappeared offstage while Brendon sang _'Let's Kill Tonight'_. I expected her to appear somewhere next to me, but she didn't. Then Brendon's voice echoed from the darkness. "The next song has become so much more than I ever intended it to be, so thank you." The opening notes of _'Girls, Girls, Boys'_ began and the lights came up on Brendon standing next to Thea for the second time. The gold in her makeup had disappeared, replaced with silver, her irises glowing violet as if she had contact lenses in and the gold half-skirt at the back had been replaced with the ace pride flag. The previously-gold cape had also changed to the colours of the non-binary flag. Brendon himself was wearing a pan flag like a cape over his black t-shirt.

At the end of the song, Brendon laced his fingers through hers and raised her arm in the air before hugging her. She danced off the stage, accompanied by loud cheers from the audience. Half a song later, she appeared at my side, still wearing the dress. I grinned and hugged her hard. "You were incredible. And I love the dress." She grinned back.

"I know. And thank you, B had it made for me. I wanted it to be a surprise for you." I was consciously aware of the fact that I had turned bright red as several people turned to talk to Thea. She politely answered a few questions before declining to answer any more. "I'm sorry, I can't answer any more questions at the moment. My girlfriend and I are just here to enjoy the concert." There was a tiny shiver of delight which curled around my heart as she took my hand.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Lin-Manuel Miranda_**  
I was entirely enamoured when my wife gave me tickets to Panic! at the Disco's concert the day before my birthday. As much as I didn't want to miss playing Alex that evening, I knew they could manage without me for one night.

The concert was everything I expected it to be - and more. The rapping of twenty øne piløts' singer (Tyler) combined with the incredible vocals of Patrick Stump combined with the energy, showmanship and command of the stage that Brendon Urie held was probably one of the greatest combinations in history. I remembered attending the show in LA, where they played with four other bands. It had been all over the news - not just because it was the ultimate 'emo' concert, but because there had been a vampire attack just after it had finished. No one had managed to get specific details, but it had been said that hunters had managed to save anyone from dying. Just over half way through Panic!'s set, the band began to play one of their earliest and most famous songs, but Brendon brought a girl on stage to sing with him. She looked to be no more than nineteen, but could sing like someone closer to Brendon's age. She sang only two songs, but I made a mental note to track her career. By the time it finished, I could still hear Brendon's voice echoing in my ears. I wondered whether he'd be interested in Broadway. He had everything you would need - the stage presence, and the power to make you feel a million different things using only his voice.

That evening, I almost wrote a song specifically for him to sing. In the end I restrained myself to half a song. The distraction of the night before did also make it slightly difficult to concentrate on my actual birthday. Thankfully it was a one-show day, meaning I had the opportunity to go out for lunch with my wife and son. They dropped me off at the theatre at 4, with plenty of time to get ready for the 7pm show. Much as I had thoroughly enjoyed Brendon's show, I was glad to be back among my friends, preparing for my own show. I contemplated whether he and his band would come and see me perform, and once the idea had popped into my mind, it stubbornly refused to leave.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Thea Elliot_**  
Performing with Brendon had been a thrill which I doubted would ever be topped, but the following night, we were seated in some of the best seats, waiting for the red curtain to rise on the cast of Hamilton. Jane was sat on my right, gripping my hand in excitement and anticipation, and Brendon was on my left, Sarah on his other side. As the curtain rose and the music began, I murmured the words along with the characters on stage. Brendon raised an eyebrow and I winced. Usually I was not a fan of rap. Tyler was alright, but Hamilton was an entirely different story. Jane knew it better than I did, but still.

It was a jaw-dropping, show-stopping performance and at the end, we walked away wishing it had never ended. It was hard to sleep after that. Jane managed, but I was restless. Around one in the morning, I got up and slipped into a pair of thick tights, black denim shorts, grey long-sleeve cropped top and hoodie-cloak thing which I dearly loved, lacing my doc martens up and closed the door gently behind me. Voices echoed from Brendon's room so I knocked. The door opened to reveal Pete and B. "Can't sleep?" I sighed.

"Nope? You too huh?" They pulled faces which I took to mean yes. "Don't suppose you fancy going out for a walk?" Brendon shrugged and glanced at Pete.

"Why not. I don't think we'll meet any trouble, but take a blade with you though, just in case." I nodded and quietly collected mine from my room, tucking the dagger and double-edged knife into the sheathes strapped under my cloak before meeting them outside Pete's room.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Pete Wentz_**  
We wandered outside, heading absentmindedly towards Washington Heights. For the most part, we walked in companionable silence, just watching the city's nightlife. There were considerably less people at night than during the day, but enough that none of us wanted to risk running at maximum speed. That would attract far too much attention. It was good that people felt safe in their city, despite the knowledge that vampires were out there. We'd contacted Charlie the day we arrived, to let her know of our presence in her city, and had seen a few of her clan members around, but none of them bothered us.

The night took a turn for the worse only when Thea froze. "What is it?" Her face had gone hard.

"Fear. And blood," Brendon answered for her. "About a mile that way." At that point we switched into hunter mode. To hell with being discreet. We sprinted towards the source, Brendon and Thea taking to the rooftops to scout from above while I searched from the ground. It did not take us long to find the cause. A group of nine vampires had encircled a man on the ground. Brendon and Thea peered over the edge of the roof, glancing at me. I nodded almost imperceptibly and they drew their weapons, flicking their fangs down and allowing their eyes to light up. Brendon counted down from three, his voice echoing in mine and Thea's heads. On one, they jumped from the edge of the roof, landing with bone breaking force on top of two of the vampires. Three of the vampires died before they knew what had hit them, reduced to ash. The other six did not hesitate to attack, flipping Thea onto her back and pinning me in a rather awkward position. Brendon handled his first, sending out a sonic wave which knocked the vampires off balance, allowing me and Thea to escape.

By the time the final vampire was pinned against the wall, Brendon had a long gash running the length of his cheekbone and Thea had one in her side which made her hiss. Thankfully, I'd managed to avoid any major injury, although I was 90% sure I'd dislocated and relocated my wrist. Brendon and Thea held the vampire by the arms as I angled my blade at her throat. "Who are you?"

"There are dozens like me. Hundreds, thousands even." She spat blood onto the ground, laughing. "But you'll never know." Generally pissed off, I struck her with the hilt of my dagger, knocking her out cold. I'd let Charlie deal with her. The man seemed disoriented, but largely unharmed except for the bites on his forearms and collarbone. It took us a second, but he recognised us instantly.

"Brendon Urie... Pete Wentz... Thea?" He murmured breathlessly. "You're vampires? I'm going to die. How did you? I..." Thea flicked her fangs away.

"Lin? Oh my god. I'm so sorry." Realisation struck Brendon and I at approximately the same time and we swore similarly simultaneously. "Brendon, help Lin up. And be careful," she hissed. I glanced at the female vampire lying unconscious, then at the eight piles of ash. "Pete, help me with her." I nodded and lifted the female up. "Hey. Lin? It's going to be fine. We just need you to talk to a vampire friend of ours very quickly and then we can get you to a healer and you'll be fine. Okay?" He looked utterly petrified at the thought so I tried.

"Lin, don't worry. Charlie isn't going to hurt you." He still didn't seem convinced, but he was still in shock, which made him pliable. It was a long walk to the NYC clan's headquarters, so we decided it would be better if we moved at our superhuman speed. Two of Charlie's sentinel guards escorted us to her chamber where she immediately stood up and rushed forward, glancing at our wounds and then at the two people we carried.

"What happened?" She demanded.

"We don't know. There were nine of them. Thea smelled blood. She won't give us any answers. She one of yours?"

"No," Charlie said, without looking.

"How do you know?"

"Because she has intent to kill written all over her face. I have given a grand total of one sire command over my time as alpha here, and that was not to kill. And I trust my clan." I sighed with relief.

"Then she's all yours. If you do find anything out, text one of us."

"I will. Thank you for dealing with it." We nodded and turned to leave. "Is he okay? The human?"

"He'll be fine. He's just in shock."

"Does he know why they picked him?" Brendon answered.

"No. He had headphones on, was on a late-night walk to clear his head, they attacked out of nowhere and didn't say a word."

"Thank you Brendon." He nodded and we were on our way, back at our hotel in minutes. I sent Thea to fetch Alex while Brendon and I settled Lin on my bed.

"You think he'll be okay?" I shrugged as Alex and Thea entered, a very tired looking Jane close behind. Alex pushed past us, glancing over Lin.

"What's going on?" Jane asked rubbing her eyes.

"We went out for a walk to clear our heads and ran into some trouble." She hovered in the doorway, watching Alex studying Lin.

"Alex?" Thea asked.

"He'll be fine. He's got a few bite marks and a mild concussion which I can fix, but otherwise it's primarily mental trauma. He'll recover," she said, slitting her palm with a sterile scalpel and dropping green blood into the open wounds, which almost immediately healed over. His eyes fluttered and closed a moment later. "He's sleeping. Check on him every hour, but he'll wake up on his own when the concussion is fixed. Now, let me see you." She treated Brendon and Thea's wounds before disappearing - presumably back to her bed.

"You guys want to go to bed?" Thea asked. "I don't mind staying up." I hugged her briefly.

"You did well tonight." She shrugged and Brendon jerked his head towards the door.

"Come on. Go get sleep." She nodded and half smiled, linking her arm through Jane's as they headed back towards their shared room.

"You too Brendon." For a moment, he seemed inclined to fight me before giving in. "Thanks for saving us back there." Brendon paused in the doorway as if he wanted to say something before thinking better of it and disappearing. I sighed contentedly despite the fraught evening and settled down with a book.


	16. Chicago (Part 1)

_**Thea Elliot**_  
"Thea?! Bring Jane in here. And grab Patrick while you're at it!" Jane stood immediately and I grabbed Patrick from the next room. Before he could blink, they were both standing in Pete's room. It was quite a sight. Lin was standing in the corner of the room holding onto a pencil for dear life. I smirked and raised an eyebrow until Jane elbowed me in the ribs.

"What's going on?" Pete shrugged. 

"No idea. Suddenly woke up and just kind of sat staring at me for half a minute. Then...this."

"It's probably mildly overwhelming." Brendon - who I hadn't noticed standing in the corner with his arms raised - arched an eyebrow.

"Mildly?" I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the broadway star.

"Hey, Lin? Uh, are you okay?" He looked somewhere between stunned and terrified - a very, very similar expression to how his character looked after getting shot. "Listen. We're going outside. If you need to talk to Jane and Patrick or any of the others, they're here." I turned to Pete and Brendon, jerking my head towards the door and following them out. Much as I desperately wanted to have a long discussion with Lin, he needed human contact right now, and none of the three of us were able to give that. Still, that didn't stop us listening in through the door.

"Um Lin? I'm Jane. Are you okay?"

"They're vampires?"

"Yes. Well, no. Sort of. It's really complicated," Patrick's voice said.

"Well then explain it!" Lin demanded.

"They're sunwalkers. They aren't affected by sunlight in the same way that vampires are. And these ones in particular don't drink human blood, at least not from the vein." Jane attempted to explain. There was a tiny burst of pride in my chest for her understanding. 

"Yeah, and we hunt vampires. The bad ones anyway. The type ones mostly keep to themselves anyway. It's just the rogues and type twos that we have to keep an eye on." Patrick clarified. Half a second later, my attention was drawn away from the conversation as Pete's phone buzzed in his pocket. We moved further away from the door.

"Hey Charlie. Hang on, slow down, what's wrong? Brendon and Thea are here with me." He tapped the speaker icon and her voice became clearer.

"I found out about the vampire you took down the other night. Not much information, but a little. They come from a clan with a latin name which I can't pronounce. Literally translated means Born of Death. They're an illicit clan based in Chicago." Brendon glanced at Pete, unspoken words passing between them. Without thinking, I delved into Brendon's mind, finding a memory which filled in the gaps to my own. When I pulled out, Brendon was glaring at me. 

"We are so going to talk about this later," he hissed. Pete glared at Brendon.

"Not now," Pete also hissed before turning back to the phone. "I think we've had dealings with them before. A runaway in LA. I'll see if Patrick is willing to check into it. He spent most of his childhood there and he has a house there so he should be."

"Thank you. I've called an urgent meeting with Chicago's Alpha. And after I've met with him, I'm going to meet with all of the sector alphas. It's good to know you're fighting with us."

"As long as it's never one of yours. Thank you for telling us." With that, Pete hung up before swearing.

"Pete? What is it? What's wrong?"

"You remember when we thought they'd found a cure?" I nodded. "A little while after B got out of the hospital, we went on a hunt. We'd had word that there was a new vampire in town who hadn't checked in with the Clan."

"Yeah. Turned out he'd escaped an abusive and illegal clan in Chicago. We gave him Mika's contact details and nothing more came of it." Brendon continued.

"Your point? And plan?"

"If that clan knows we helped him get out and that we're the ones who captured that female last night, then we're in for a whole lot of trouble. Especially because of her. If she was operating in New York, that means that this clan isn't just in Chicago. I'll talk to Patrick. When we're done here, we can go to Chicago and try to figure it out."

"I want to come." Brendon glanced at Pete again.

"No. When we're done here, you go back to LA. Finish drama school. We can handle this."

"But I..."

"Thea... I said no." I snarled in frustration and huffed a sigh, folding my arms and leaning against the wall by the door. Pete leaned next to me.

"B's right you know."

"Yeah, I know. That's not the point." He shrugged. 

"I wouldn't worry about it. I don't plan on letting B come either.

"What?!" Brendon protested.

"You have a tour to do and fans who are waiting for you. If this is a short job, then we'll deal with it. If not, we'll wait until our calendars are significantly more empty. And either way, we'll call the Winchesters, see if they've got any hunters they can put on it." With that, the door opened to reveal Patrick standing with his arms folded and eyebrows raised.

"He's calmed down a bit, but you still might wanna take things slowly." Pete nodded and we entered, attempting to remain as relaxed as possible, which was not actually that hard. "Hey, Lin. This is Pete, Brendon and Thea."

"I know. I was at the show the other night." He stared straight at me. "You were incredible." I could then feel myself blushing as my cheeks burned hot. "I, uh, I actually started writing a song for the two of you."

"That's amazing. We went to see Hamilton last night. Happy Birthday by the way. You were amazing." Now he was blushing. Pete glanced between the two of us and rolled his eyes.

"Lin? Listen, we know that this is a lot of information to take in, and you're probably feeling a lot of things right now, but we need to know exactly what happened."

"Why? Isn't this something cops should deal with?"

"We're hunters. The cops are equipped to deal with human crime. Also, we need to know because the female we caught last night confessed to being a member of an illegal clan in Chicago. After we've finished here, we're heading there to try and bring them down, but we need to know why they attacked you so that we can figure out the best way to go about this." Patrick's smile disappeared. He nodded once to Pete.

"All I know is this: They jumped me in that alley and then four of them pinned me to the ground." He ran the fingers of one hand over his wrist, where a faint imprint of vampire teeth remained. "The other five started biting and then they just kind of stopped. They started saying something in Latin and then that female was about to slit her wrist when you dropped down onto them. They said I was important." I glanced at Pete. Somehow, I didn't think that those nine necessarily wanted this. No doubt if it was up to them, they would have just drained Lin and left him for dead. And if it was their alpha, well, if an alpha wanted you turned then they wouldn't stop until they had their way.

"Okay. Thea, grab Andy and Joe." I nodded, speeding through to their room and poking them both in the ribs.

"Pete wants to talk to you." Joe groaned and rolled over but Andy sat up.

"What's wrong? Joe get up." Eventually, they both wandered into Pete's room. "Pete? What's going on?"

"A group of vampires attacked Lin last night." That caught Joe's attention. "We killed eight of them and gave the last to Charlie. Anyway, there is a high chance that they were acting on their alpha's orders, in which case, there will be more coming for him. Patrick and I are going to check out what's going on in Chicago, but until we've ended it, you two need to stay. As bodyguards." Andy nodded once.

"I'll call the Winchesters. You could do with their help." Pete nodded.

"Definitely do that. And see if they've got contacts with any other hunters who might be able to help with Lin. We have a show in a few weeks time and you guys can't stay forever." Joe and Andy disappeared outside to phone the Winchester brothers. Glancing at Lin was definitely a bad idea. He looked to be on the verge of crying.

"Pete, go talk to Patrick. Brendon, go with them." The three of them glanced at Lin and nodded once, following the drummer and guitarist out the door. Jane glanced at me.

"You okay?" I sighed.

"Yeah."

"Oh. It's just your hair has turned bright red and short." I sighed.

"Sorry. Meant to tell you at some point. You know how Pete and Brendon got sound powers, well, I got shifting." Jane raised her eyebrows and sighed, shaking her head slightly.

"So the red is staying?"

"I don't know. Generally it happens automatically when I'm stressed and I can't make it go away. Why? Does it look bad on me?" She shrugged.

"No. It's kind of cool." I grinned, but the expression disappeared as I turned and caught sight of Lin still sitting cross-legged on the bed, almost zoned out.

"Hey, Lin? It's going to be okay. Patrick's going to call some friends. They're going to go deal with the clan's alpha while Andy, Joe and some other friends will stay here to protect you. I know it's a lot to take in." 

"I don't entirely know how I should feel about this. On the one hand, this is an amazing experience, on the other, I'm freaking terrified."

"Would it help you to understand if you could see it?" Jane asked. I glanced at her with an eyebrow raised and she shrugged. Lin shook his head.

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Okay, well what do you want to know?"

"Are you always hungry? I have friends who think that the hunger never goes away." I shrugged.

"Not really. I get hungry about as often as a human does, it's just more intense. And I eat human food too. I still love my bacon sandwiches." Jane's nose wrinkled in distaste and I rolled my eyes.

"When you sang the other night, is that how you sang before? Or is it only since turning? How old are you?"

"My voice is the same as it was before - I've got a few extra notes which took some getting used to, but otherwise it's no different. And I'm nineteen." 

"The others?"

"B is 28 and Pete is 36. Out of our clan, it's only Ray and Alex who are older." He frowned. "Ray is... was one of the guitarists for My Chemical Romance. Alex is a healer. She's the one who healed the bites." Lin rubbed at his arms self consciously. "She said the scars will fade in a week or two." He nodded, but didn't seem convinced. I hoped Pete was having better luck.

~~~~~~~~~~

_**Pete Wentz**_  
The Winchester's had picked up almost immediately. "We need your help." Apparently, they could sense the urgency in our voices.

"Okay. What's wrong? And where are you?" Dean asked.

"New York."

"We're on our way. Go slowly and explain it," Sam's voice echoed from the phone.

"Illegal vampire clan in Chicago. We've found a faction in New York, so we think they've got people everywhere. They attacked a friend of ours. We need you guys to help us take down the main clan and we need a team of your best to keep this guy safe."

"Okay. Who is it?"

"Lin-Manuel Miranda. He wrote and stars in Hamilton. It's a musical."

"Yeah, I read a review in the paper a while back. I've been meaning to go see it," Sam said despite Dean's following insult.

"Nerd." A moment later, the two of them echoed the same word.

"Charlie." I frowned.

"Who is Charlie? Charlie the alpha of america?

"What? No! She's one of our best hunters. There's a team. Charlie Bradbury, Claire Novak, Donna Hanscomb, Jody Mills, Eileen Leahy, Patience Turner and Rowena MacLeod."

"Yeah. Claire is distantly related to Cas and has some celestial powers. Rowena is a Witch in the literal sense of the word - powers and all. We think she's got sunwalker blood. And Patience is psychic. The others are all good hunters, they are one of the best teams we've ever seen. Although Charlie doesn't tend to get along well with Rowena. Charlie likes modern tech. Rowena was born over 300 years ago. They tend to have a lot of differences of opinion, but when it comes down to it, they are both incredible."

"I don't know what to say," Patrick told them. I - and everyone else no doubt - was in much the same position.

"You don't need to say anything. Cas, Sam and I will be in New York in two days max. One of the girls will get in contact." With that, they hung up. Patrick glanced at me.

"We're going home?"

"Back to Illinois, yeah. We need to deal with this." He nodded. "We've got another few days though and Thea and Jane are going to stay with Lin, so we're free to have fun while we're here." He smiled, though it seemed strained. Knowing Patrick, he wouldn't be settled until we arrived in Chicago. Even then he'd be tense. If an illegal vampire clan had taken root and was based in his home city, he was going to be pissed. Hell, I was pissed. Chicago was my home too - when we weren't on tour or in LA recording. "Patrick... I'm sorry." He rested his head on my shoulder.

"I know. And it's not your fault." He glanced up. "You should call Meagan, tell her to get the kids out of town. I'll call Elisa." I nodded, pulling my phone out of my pocket as Patrick pulled up his wife's number.

"It's going to be okay." He just looked sad, almost lost and for once, I didn't know how to help.


	17. Chicago (Part 2)

The week ended far too soon. That meant Jane had to go back to Scotland and Thea had to return to LA. Lin was still jumpy, although apparently his last few performances had been as good as any others. After waving the others off, Patrick and I met up with the hunters in a studio rented out to us for the next hour. The three Winchester brothers had arrived the day before and the girls were due to meet us there. Andy was meeting up with Joe and they were bringing Lin too.

By the time we arrived, everyone else was already gathered. Sam and Dean's imposing figures hovered in the corner while Castiel (minus his wings) attempted to wrangle seven women into being quiet. The two redheads were glaring daggers at each other from across the room, enough that I winced.

"Alright people, listen up," I spoke directly into their minds, silencing them. They turned to face me, Patrick by my side. "I know the last time we saw a lot of you was nearly six years ago, and that most of us don't know each other, but we need your help. In case you weren't there, our Clan took down the Alpha of the West Coast of America. It wasn't fun, and we had to give up a lot for it." I flicked my eyes to violet for impact. "Including mortality." My eyes returned to brown and I took a deep breath. 

"An illegal clan has been set up. We know that it's base is in Chicago, but it has operatives here in New York and we have received word from friends of Charlie's that other cities have experienced similar problems." One of the redheads frowned but Sam shook his head and she didn't say anything. Looking at her properly, she bore striking similarities to the one I spoke of. The same hair and pale skin, similar eyes. 

"As Alpha of America, Charlie has full control of all legal clans and has promised us whatever help she can afford to spare. However, she has uprisings of her own to deal with. She also has no connection to this clan. It's alpha did not announce their presence in Chicago and Charlie confirmed yesterday that there is no record of them in the Council's registry. They recently attacked a friend of ours," I glanced at Lin, who nodded once, "and we cannot allow that to stand, especially given how many attacks of a similar nature we've received word of. And, although we desperately want to be able to deal with this ourselves, it is something which affects all of us. Besides, our clan is currently spread across the world performing, which means we are nowhere near full power."

"Our plan is to head to Chicago in an attempt to find the base of this clan and, if possible take them out. However, we have very little intel on them and their activities. In addition to this, we have reason to believe that this clan is not yet finished with Lin, which means he needs a 24hr guard until this clan is taken down - whether that takes a few weeks or a few months. If we find any other victims like this, they too will need protecting. In order to do this, Joe and Andy have been on guard for the last few days, and will stay here with Lin until we have to leave for tour." I swallowed. I was asking a lot of these people and some of them I barely knew. The others I didn't know at all. "There are fourteen of us, however I believe more people will be needed in Chicago than will be needed here. Here is how I have listed people so far: Joe, Andy, Cas, Donna Hanscomb, Charlie Bradbury and Claire Novak will stay in New York to guard Lin. Provided you are willing, the rest of you - Sam, Dean, Jody Mills, Eileen Leahy and Rowena MacLeod - will come to Chicago with Patrick and I. However, when Patrick, Joe, Andy and me have to leave for tour, Sam will be rotating you guys around." Heads nodded and I breathed a sigh of relief. One girl frowned, the one I'd left out. I let Sam take over to explain.

"If something happens, get in touch straight away. One of Pete's friends, Alex, is a healer and she has the aid of a teleporter. However, in order for her to be able to help anyone, she needs a psychic. Patience, if you are willing, I would like you to be with Alex and this teleporter at all times. Charlie has given Pete a list of places where attacks similar to the one on Lin have already happened. You need to find out what happened and help however you can." She looked nervous, but nodded once, understanding the responsibility we were placing on her.

"Alright. Has everyone got that?" There were various affirmations around the room. "Good. It is currently 1:15. We roll out at 2. If you have questions, speak to either me, Sam, Dean or Castiel." With that, we disbanded. Sam wandered over and I glanced up. "You're sure they're ready?"

"They don't look like much, but I would trust each and every one of them with my life." I sighed.

"Good enough for me. I'm just worried. We went into the fight against Luka with hundreds of people and a lot of good hunters died. These are vampires. And not type twos. These are intelligent, cunning and they know how to blend in and hide. They can't just be killed by lopping off their heads." Sam nodded.

"I know. But they've dealt with a lot. Claire's mother was killed by a rogue Celestial. And her father..." Sam glanced at Cas. I raised an eyebrow. 

"She's a demi-breed?" Sam shrugged.

"Yeah. It was Cas' brother that killed her mom. She's a little ball of rage, but she knows where to put it." A blonde head moved towards us. "Speak of the devil. Hey Claire." She rolled her eyes at the ridiculously tall man and turned to me. 

"I want to go to Chicago with you."

"Why?"

"Because. I was born in Pontiac. Illinois might not be my home - but it's where I came from and I still care about it." I nodded.

"I understand, but we need you here with Charlie and Cas and..."

"You're putting me with my dad? What, so he can protect me?"

"No, we just think..."

"I can handle myself."

"Claire, I don't doubt that for a second and I promise, if we need other people, we'll call you, but right now..."

"Why can't Eileen and Sam stay here? Then you could have both Cas and me in Chicago." I glanced at Sam. Apparently I would not be getting my point across. Sam smiled a little at Claire.

"I'll ask Dean."

"Ask me what?" Dean appeared behind Sam. 

"Whether Claire and Cas can go to Chicago in place of me and Eileen. I don't mind. Truthfully, she has a point, they'll be more use with you than here." Dean reluctantly agreed and Claire danced off with a grin.

"Does she always get her own way?" I asked. Dean gave me a look which said _'pretty much'_.

~~~~~~~~~~

At two, we were all standing ready. Having gathered up all of the celestial blades that the group had, Patrick and I redistributed them more evenly. Only seven blades between the fourteen of us. If we'd had more time I would have visited Charlie again to ask her if she had any, but time was something we were lacking. People streamed into the afternoon sunlight leaving Patrick and me behind to talk to Lin. "Listen, you'll be okay. You have some of the best hunters we know protecting you and Sam is staying to lead. He will do anything to keep you safe."

"I know. It's just, I'm not finished yet. There's a million things I haven't done." I almost smiled at the reference.

"And when this clan is taken down, you'll get to do all of them." He nodded and hugged me.

"I can't thank you enough."

"Thank us by living. Keep being incredible." Pink tinged his cheeks as Sam escorted him outside. I glanced at Patrick. His face had hardened in a way I hadn't seen since Luka.

"Let's go." He nodded once and we climbed into my car, following the ominous shape of the Winchester's black '67 Impala.

~~~~~~~~~~

We made the agonising thirteen hour journey in under twelve hours, swapping the driving duties every two hours. Upon arrival, two elegant black cars with tinted windows joined us, escorting us to a building on the outskirts of the city before the occupants of the cars escorted us inside where a man in a simple beige cotton tunic and pants met us, bowing his head out of respect. "Alpha Pete."

"Alpha. I apologise. I have not been made aware of your name."

"James. Call me James. I am truly sorry that your presence here is necessary, but my first duty is to protect my people."

"I understand. My duty is to protect my people too, but this is our home, this is where we are from. We chose to do this together."

"Then I thank you. I am to attend an emergency meeting of the sector alphas for four days, so one of my Betas, Lillian, will take care of any of your concerns or needs while you are here." He waved a hand towards a rather plain-looking woman dressed similarly to James. I nodded and jerked my head to Dean, sullenly standing with his arms folded. I got the sense that he was not a huge fan of vampires, especially ones he didn't know.

"Sir, there was a disturbance out on 55." A young-looking vampire warned.

"I will be there in a few minutes." He turned back to us. "Alas, I must leave you. If you have questions, Lillian will always be around." He nodded his respect and disappeared in a matter of seconds.

"So what now?" Cas asked.

"I have no idea. We need to sleep. The humans do anyway. Dean, Jody and Patrick, find somewhere to crash and get at least a few hours of sleep. Cas, Claire, Rowena and I will start scouting." Dean tried to protest and my own exhaustion won out over patience, allowing my violet eyes to take over. He and Jody disappeared, Patrick hugging me briefly before following. Cas and Claire studied me. "Go, cover as much ground as you can. Cas, you take the sky," his wings unfurled and I restrained the urge to grin like a five-year-old, "Claire...what are you doing?" She had already stripped her leather jacket off. She raised an eyebrow before looking towards the sky and allowing a pair of wings like a kingfisher to unfurl dramatically, her t-shirt parting at the back to allow them freedom. "Fine, join Cas." The two of them were already moving towards open ground. I glanced at the red-headed 'witch'. Alex's book had everything in it, and witches were not one of those things. "Guess that leaves you and me."

"Well yes, dear, that would appear to be the case." I raised an eyebrow at her accent - strong and scottish.

"So, what are you then?" I asked as we wandered towards the city centre.

"What do you think I am?"

"They told me you have violet eyes. That means sunwalker. Yet..." I listened in to her heartbeat. "You're heart beats as a human's does."

"You're a clever one. I'm a type four sunwalker." I frowned. The book was detailed, but there were pages missing and ink faded. "Means that my blood is more than 50% sunwalker. As far as I have figured it out, I have eleven sunwalker great-great-grandparents, which makes me nearly 70% sunwalker. Of the others, one was an advanced human, one was a vampire, one was a celestial and the others were just humans." I nodded, though I wasn't sure I understood.

"You're... I don't know. There's something radiating off you." She almost grinned. Grabbing my hand, she linked my fingers around her wrist.

"You feel that?" There was no way to describe it. Power, so much pure, undiluted power running through those veins. It left a metallic tang in my mouth.

"Yeah. What is it?"

"It's been there my whole life. I think it is because I inherited every power that my ancestors had. Think about it. Have you ever felt that on anyone?"

"No. Not even Castiel. You're more powerful than a Celestial?" She gave me a look which both terrified me and gave me huge respect for her.

"Yes dear. I can sweep this city for signs of the illegal clan, but if they truly want to hide their activities from me, there are ways." I shrugged.

"Might as well. It won't do any harm." She nodded and we paused walking.

"You might want to step back." I did so and watched her eyes light up violet. The light shifted, travelling down the veins from her eyes into her hands. She knelt 0n one knee, pressing her palms flat to the ground. The light in her veins built, continuing to travel towards her hands. Then, four pulses of violet light moved into the ground, spreading out in a ring. I raised an eyebrow and she mirrored the action. 

"Now, you need to eat." I sighed and closed my eyes.

"I'll be fine."

"Och, boy, don't lie to me, I'm over three hundred years old." I winced. In truth, I was starving, although it didn't make sense for me to be. "I'll find someone, you can have what you need, then I'll heal them, wipe their memory and send them on their way."

"No. No humans." Rowena seemed to be losing patience.

"Well it's that or lose control and go mad." As much as I vehemently hated the very idea, she was right.

"Fine," I hissed. "But you need to stop me if I go too far." She raised her eyebrows, but I didn't shift my gaze.

"Fine." Somewhere in my gut I knew it was perhaps not the best idea to trust her - especially given the, uh, sketchy, history the Winchesters had given me, but right now, the requirement for blood outweighed the side of my brain which controlled logic. We walked for a good hour before finding anyone insane enough to be outside at half past three in the morning. Rowena immobilized them, knocking them unconscious without ever laying a finger on them. I closed my eyes and made no move to get any closer. When I opened my eyes, her thumb was brushing my lips, leaving a red stain across them which had my fangs flicking into place, my eyes lighting up. Behind me, I was vaguely aware of her licking blood off her fingers and leaning back on the wall.

If you've never felt the euphoria that comes knowing that you hold a person's life in your hands, then you haven't died. My senses came back slowly and I fought to pull myself away, my vision blurred as I stumbled into a wall, retching. This was wrong. Rowena healed the human, wiping their mind as I heaved up the contents of my stomach, which was surprisingly little given how much I'd just taken. Vampires and sunwalkers stomachs process blood much faster than humans process food, so most of it had already absorbed into my own blood stream. Unless we drink regularly, we lose tolerance for vein-warm, undiluted blood. Which was why my vision blurred, my hearing fuzzy, my sense of balance entirely missing. It's like giving an clean alcohol addict an entire bottle of vodka. From what I could tell through the blood-haze, Rowena seemed unremorseful. My thoughts blurred. They felt slippery, difficult to keep hold of, like a wet bar of soap. I desperately attempted to push through the haze and find Rowena's mind, but my grip on my powers was waning, fast.

"What did you do to me?" My words slurred and my stomach lurched again. I slumped to the ground and rolled onto my back, staring up and blinking to clear the haze. It didn't work. Despite being utterly still, my stomach felt like it was on a rollercoaster. I rolled onto my side, throwing up again, though nothing came out. Consciousness was slipping away like that bar of soap in the shower. My eyelids were too heavy, my body tingling and numb at the same time. Rowena still leaned against the wall, doing nothing to help. She was too calm. I tried to ask again, the words hazy, difficult to reach. "What...did...you...?"


	18. The Sound of Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: NEEDLES

_**Pete Wentz**_  
A high-pitched noise rang in my ears. My tongue felt dry, my throat burning. Somewhere nearby, I could hear the sounds of water dripping steadily from a tap. My eyes felt like someone had poured bleach into them. Persuading myself to open them took longer than I care to admit. When I did, I found the room - a basement - empty aside from myself and a chair, which I was tied to securely enough that even with my enhanced strength, I couldn't break the ropes. My head felt fuzzy and the glaring light of the bare lightbulb was not helping.

"Not dead yet?" An accent asked. I shook my head, trying to clear my vision and focus on the speaker - a woman I hadn't noticed hovering in a shadow at the corner of the room, a shadow I was pretty sure hadn't been there half a second ago. Her name came back along with a rush of memories which hit in a rush, like a spike being forced through my brain. Rowena. This felt all wrong. Her footsteps sounded closer as I fought back the memories, trying to lock them away for now. Her fingers - cooler than I'd expected - pried my eyes open. "Well. I was not expecting that this soon. It's only been a few hours." I had the vague sense that she glanced at her watch. "Seven. Time flies." Her fingers poked my arms, the insides of my elbows, my neck. "You're eyes have turned violet," she informed me. I had no idea why it was relevant, but she seemed in a cheery mood and inclined to explain. "That means it won't be long now."

"Long?" My voice rasped in a way which it hadn't since I'd been human. 

"Oh. A few more hours at least."

"What... are you... doing... to... me?" I tried. Her footsteps paused and I saw her blurry figure moving towards me. She seemed to contemplate talking about it. 

"Why not? A few years ago, I had a theory, to cure vampires. Of course, when I tried it, it didn't work, so I wanted to try it on sunwalkers, but until now, none have crossed my path. And then, Sam calls about you. I've kept tabs on you and your... clan for a while now."

"How? The... cure... failed?" I managed to get out.

"I wouldn't talk, Pete. You'll want your voice for screaming later." I fought against the ropes but she waved a hand and they tightened, biting into my wrists.

"They'll... find... me." Rowena smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~

_**Patrick Stump**_  
"Dean?" He was awake in moments, his gun aimed at my head. I backed off and raised my hands and he blinked and put the gun down. "Cas and Claire just got back."

"I'll be out in a minute." I nodded and sat down at the table to down a cup of coffee. I was not used to motels and sleep had not been restful. Both Cas and Claire looked exhausted, but there also seemed to be something off. They wouldn't speak to me until Cas had talked to Dean though so I left them to it. Jody sat down next to me with a similar tired look and even bigger cup of coffee. I raised an eyebrow, but she was still too out of it to respond. Cas and Dean's hushed voices made me nervous, and even more so when I saw the stormy look that was taking over Dean's green eyes, a similar look to the one in the celestial's blue eyes. Then the occasional sly glances in my direction put me even more on edge.

"Guys, what's going on?" Cas and Dean exchanged glances. Even Claire was glaring, sharpening her blade.

"It's Pete." I stood up faster than was wise.

"What happened? Where is he? What did you do?"

"Rowena took him somewhere. We don't know where." I swallowed and focused on the link he and I shared. It was ominously quiet. Usually there was music, faint, but elegant. Silence worried me.

"He's quiet." They frowned. I tapped the side of my head. "In here, he's... silent."

"What do you mean, 'In here'?"

"I'm part of Pete's clan. We're all connected by a psychic web. Mine and Pete's connection is the strongest group, and it's never this quiet." The room - like our connection - fell silent. Rowena was likely the only person who could find Pete, and since she was the one who had stolen him away, somehow, I didn't think she would be likely to help. Dean's phone buzzed and he raised an eyebrow, answering it and putting it on speaker.

"Sam, what's up?"

"Is Pete with you? I saw..."

"Rowena took him somewhere." 

"I know. Where are you?" Sam asked hurriedly.

"Some motel just north of the city," Dean replied.

"She's close to you. South-west, no more than four miles."

"How do you know?"

"Patrick, I have never been able to explain how I know," Sam told me.

"But he's always right," Dean finished Sam's sentence, indicating with one hand for everyone to pack the stuff they needed. "Thanks Sam. We'll update you when we find him." With that, he ended the call. "Patrick, go with Jody and Claire. If we find them, hang back. Cas and I will go in first, but knowing Rowena she'll have a plan, so you might end up as rescue." I nodded and five minutes later, I was standing outside with Jody and Claire - freezing despite the sun - ready to go. Cas would fly over the city, looking for Pete using a method he'd attempted to explain but I hadn't understood. The rest of us would search on the ground. It hardly seemed like a good plan, but the Winchesters were known for being able to do things that most other hunters couldn't.

It took nearly three hours of searching for signs that a tiny, scottish, red-headed witch had dragged an admittedly short sunwalker into any one of the buildings to actually find evidence. A scrap of her deep purple velvet cloak caught on a wall, a hair trapped in the wire fence. Castiel confirmed which building - a bar and hotel - and then we began phase two. He and Dean entered through the back entrance, sneaking in with a group of people bringing food supplies. Claire seemed on edge, pacing, back and forth. Jody seemed equally anxious, yet remained still. It seemed almost like a role-reversal. Usually, celestials and demi-breeds remained still and silent during hunts, able to keep breathing so quietly that no one notices their presence. In similar situations, humans are generally louder. At any other time, it would have made me smile, but not today. Not when my best friend's life was on the line. It was barely five minutes later that Claire kicked the wall with enough force to crack the brick.

"I'm going after them," she announced, taking off towards the back of the building. 

"Claire wait," Jody said. The demi-breed teenager turned, her face clear enough to tell us that nothing we could say would change her mind. Jody kicked off the wall and pulled her blade out of her belt. "We're coming too." I glanced at her and followed them into the building. Jody, noticing I lacked any weapons whatsoever, handed me a small knife. It likely wouldn't do too much damage, but it would offer me at least a tiny chance for me to defend myself. It was not difficult for us to find the entrance to the basement. It was, however, significantly harder for us to get in. Claire frowned at something neither Jody nor I could see, waving her arm over the door, sigils appeared, glowing red.

"What do they mean?" Claire gave another look - this one saying _'How the hell am I supposed to know?'_

"Well, can you burn them off?" Jody asked. Claire rolled her eyes and pressed both hands to the door, leaning her weight into it. The sigils lit up. Red, then blue, then they flickered back to red and Claire was thrown back. 

"Well now I understand it. They're passcode sigils. Means we can't get in unless we solve the riddle. And we can't solve the riddle because we can't read it."

"Well Cas and Dean got in."

"Yeah, and Cas has had years more time than I have to learn to understand this. I don't even know if it's a language or a code or what." Jody studied the door.

"Well it's nerdy but we could try the thing from Lord of the Rings. Mellon?" I glanced at the door. Predictably, nothing happened and we released a collective breath that none of us realised we'd been holding. "Alright fine. I'm going to shoot the lock." She pulled a gun out of somewhere and jerked her head at the two of us. "Stand back. And, uh, cover your ears." 

As it turned out, even with the lock shot to pieces and our eardrums ringing, the door refused to budge. "This is Rowena. What would she do?"

"She's careful about being found. She uses blood seals sometimes. Maybe it's that, but we don't have her blood. And if that was the answer, Cas and Dean wouldn't have gotten in."

"And it's Rowena. She's vain and she couldn't give two craps about people. She wouldn't use her own blood. But what about human blood? Jody, give me your arm." Claire demanded. Jody raised an eyebrow.

"I can do it myself," she said, drawing her blade quickly across her forearm. Claire took the blade and Jody used her fingers to wipe her blood on the door. Something clicked and the door finally swung open. "Thank god." She pulled down the sleeve of her flannel shirt and tucked the blade and gun back where they belonged.

The narrow, twisting corridors were enough to throw anyone off, but it was a surprisingly short amount of time before we heard the unmistakable sound of Rowena's voice. As we hovered outside the source, Jody raised one finger, then another. On the third, we burst in, weapons ready. I had to swallow to keep myself from throwing up. Pete was tied to a chair - deathly pale, needles in his arms and neck. In a medical box next to him lay seven bags of violet liquid - his blood. His heart was pumping more into an eighth bag. A second box on the other side was labelled O-neg - the universal human donor type, but it was as yet unopened. Tied to opposite walls were Cas and Dean. Aside from several nasty bruises and a few cuts, they looked unscathed. That was until I shifted my gaze to Castiel's wings, bent in the wrong directions in the wrong places. Jody aimed her gun at the red-head and we descended further into the basement. Claire kept her blade angled at Rowena's neck, jerking her head to indicate that I should check on the others. I rushed towards Pete, grabbing his face. His eyes were lit up violet but his fangs were strangely absent. 

"Pete? Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

"Cold. Get... the... others." His voice rasped worse than mine after tour.

"In a minute. What happened to your fangs?"

"Get... the... others." He repeated and I snarled softly.

"Fine. But if you die on me..." I left my warning unfinished as I went to untie Dean, who immediately moved towards Castiel. He glanced at me. 

"Call Alex. We need a healer here. Now." He raised his voice to speak to Claire and Jody. "You two are amazing and if you were my age and available I would kiss you. Do not take your eyes off her." Neither of them replied, both focused on the witch.

"I could cure him you know." Rowena's statement was entirely directed at me. "It's working."

"No, it's torture. You're killing him." I hissed, returning to Pete's side and pulling my phone out of my pocket, pulling up Alex's contact details. "Alex. Get here as soon as you can. It's bad." I told her.

"On our way." I hung up and began looking at the needles, trying to take them out.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Why not?" I growled, turning.

"He'll die. He's not finished yet. I mean, look at him." I studied Pete. His body temperature was even colder than it usually was and his heart was struggling. 

Then, in half a second, chaos reigned. I lost track of the action as Alex and Patience appeared out of thin air with an unfamiliar man - the teleporter. The momentary distraction caused Jody and Claire to lose focus, allowing Rowena enough time to grab the medical container full of Pete's blood and disappear into thin air. Alex glanced at Pete and Cas, running towards the celestial first. "Patience and Jake, stay out of the way. Patrick, stay with Pete, try to keep him conscious, take the needles out of his arms, but not the one from his neck just yet. Dean, Jody, Claire, you're going to help me set the wings, hold him down. Cas, this is going to hurt." Alex took control and a sense of relief washed over me despite the situation. I heard the inhuman shrieks of pain from Cas as Alex and Dean realigned his wing bones before Alex focused on healing him. Leaning heavily on Dean and Claire, Cas managed to stand and Alex rushed to help Pete. Swearing proficiently, she analysed him. "He's lost nearly all of his blood. I need to put it back in. Where is it?"

"Rowena took it." She swore again and glanced at the single remaining medical box.

"Patrick what type is it?" She asked, not looking up from the needle marks in Pete's arms, which had healed over thanks to her blood.

"O negative. Why? Is that important?"

"Not really. At least, I don't think so." She studied Pete's face. Half-conscious, still breathing - only just. "Hey Pete. Listen, if I'm going to save you, then I need to know what she was trying to do." Pete remained unresponsive. I frowned.

"This isn't right. His mind is quiet. Something's wrong." Patience stepped forward.

"It's not." I glanced at her, still frowning. "It's not quiet. He's screaming. It's agony."

"Take me in." I demanded. She glanced at me.

"I can't, I don't know how."

"Fine, all you have to do is connect us, be the bridge. Look," I grabbed her hand, placing it on the side of my head, her fingers resting on my temples. She seemed to get the message and rested the fingers of her other hand on Pete's temple. 

_With an external bridge, I could see Pete's mind from an outside perspective. He'd thrown walls up to shield the rest of his clan. It was why none of the others - especially Brendon - had been calling to find out if something was wrong. But the walls weren't to keep others out. Patience and I pushed through, finding the inside of Pete's mind like a storm, raging, whirling, red like the colour of pain, anger and betrayal. Pete remained in the eye of the hurricane, quiet. A memory whirled past me - of Rowena, explaining her plan because she knew she could get away. _

Patience pulled the two of us out of Pete's mind and I glanced at Alex. "I know what she was trying to do."


	19. Curiosity Killed the Cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry, please forgive me. I do not have anywhere near the writing skills and eloquence Lin does when he speaks, but then again, how many people do? I'm trying. This is set around 23rd January 2016.

_**Patrick Stump, Chicago**_  
"Move." I ordered Alex. Usually, I would be considerably more polite, but today Pete's life hung in the balance. I opened the medical box and pulled out one of the bags. "Someone untie him and lie him on the floor. Dean and Jody managed to get Pete laying flat on the floor, Dean's jacket providing a pillow beneath his head. I connected the bag to the needle in Pete's neck. Alex stepped forward.

"Patrick. That might kill him," she warned. I shook my head. 

"Is there anything you can do to take the pain away?"

"Not really. But I can transfer it to someone else."

"How? Never mind. Just do it." I held out my arm but Dean gently pushed me aside.

"Give it to me. I can take it." I stared at him. We barely knew each other, yet he was willing to take that much pain in order to help my best friend out. Alex nodded once. 

"Lie down and hold onto Pete's hand." I zoned out of what Alex was doing to focus on Pete. It should be fine, I told myself. O negative is the universal donor. _Pete will be fine, right?_

One by one, the bags emptied. I didn't notice people leaving, but by the final bag, Alex, Dean and I were alone with Pete. He'd fallen unconscious in the last half-hour. Alex gently pushed me aside so she could study Pete. It took a long while for her to say anything. "I don't know." I raised my eyebrows. Since the barrier to her stronger and more destructive powers had been broken down, she was the most powerful healer in the world. If she didn't know, then no one would. "I'm sorry. As far as I can tell, his entire body is fluctuating between human and sunwalker. His heart rate is up and down like a yo-yo. So is his temperature. Even if this so-called 'cure' works, I think he will not make it very long as a human."

"Why? That's all he's wanted since the beginning."

"Yes. The difference is that he's losing all of the things which had been helping him for over six years. If you suddenly lost your ability to sing, how would you feel?" I glanced at Pete. "You have to bear in mind that this isn't a disease or an infection. When he changed, it rewrote his entire DNA. Undoing that will cause more pain than you can imagine." I turned to Dean.

"If this was Sam or Cas, what would you do?"

"I don't know. The type two's are easier to deal with." I half-frowned, half-squinted at him. "They are vampires because of an illness, an infection which can be treated with a cure. But going through it sucks ass. That being said, I'd rather be human."

"Why? Why don't you want the powers they have?"

"Because I've survived like this for thirty-something years. As strange as it sounds given the current state of affairs, I'm happy," Dean answered. This analysis did not help. "Besides, Pete's a sunwalker. I would understand it more if he was a proper vampire and still restricted by the sun, but he's not." 

~~~~~~~~~~

_**Lin-Manuel Miranda, New York**_  
The hunters were making me nervous. Charlie and Sam were alright, but the others were barely tolerable. I knew it was just me being paranoid, but still. In an attempt to distract myself, I attempted to get to know them better. Sam's girlfriend, Eileen Leahy was deaf, so he was learning sign language for her, which I thought was sweet. Part of me felt sorry for her, for the fact she'd never had the chance to get to know music. She kept her distance from Joe and Andy, primarily because Pete and Brendon were audiokinetics - able to manipulate sound - similar to the beings that destroyed her hearing and killed her parents.

Sam himself was a rather complex person. According to the others, he could see the future. I guessed that was why he wandered around with a perpetual look of well-masked terror. There was little comfort in knowing that he would be able to see my death before it happened - despite the fact that he would then be able (theoretically) to stop it from happening. 

Donna was an interesting character - a cop from minnesota who hunted vampires as a night job. Apparently, her state was far down on the list of 'safe' travel destinations and moving further down by the week. She was slightly overbearing, yet pleasant in her cheerful nature. Still, she'd given up time to come and protect me, despite having issues at home. I figured she owed something to the Winchesters, yet she seemed to be on good terms with Sam. I eventually gave up on attempting to figure it out.

Joe and Andy mostly kept out of the way. There were good fighters and well able to hold their own, but they preferred to keep to themselves.

Charlie had brought the most intrigue. The red-head was a highly intellectual nerd (in the best sense) who I could have discussions with about almost any nerd-related topic. Yet I knew she could flip from warm, friendly fan-friend to calm, calculated killing machine in seconds. She also seemed to be on the verge of asking me something but hadn't quite plucked up the courage yet.

Still, the show must go on. The others at the theatre pestered me repeatedly during rehearsal. Apparently I was quieter than usual. I brushed them off. They needed to worry about the show, not about me. Despite that, I noticed several members of the cast keeping an eye on me throughout the afternoon. And my closer friends spent a lot of time frowning. The heat meant I should have taken my sweater off, but I was highly aware that the new scars on my arms were still very visible and would raise a lot of questions.

When the show actually started, however, everything seemed to fall into place, like it made sense. Despite Charlie standing in the wings and escorting me literally everywhere, I enjoyed myself. Charlie's constant silent existence next to me for the last week had made my cast raise their eyebrows every time I passed them and I got the sense that I would have to explain everything to at least one of them in the not too distant future.

A not-too distant future that turned out to be straight after the show. We all needed to shower and go home and sleep, but Chris dragged me onto stage, where he, Leslie, Daveed, Anthony, Phillipa and Renee were all waiting expectantly, along with Jonathan Groff. Charlie glanced at me, willing to follow my lead. I squeezed my eyes shut and shrugged out of my costume coat, handing it to one of our costume makers to fix a button which had popped off during the show. Sighing, I sat down in front of them, Charlie standing just behind me, vigilant.

"What the hell is going on? You've got an entourage?" Anthony waved an arm towards the back of the theatre, where Sam and Eileen were lurking almost unnoticed in the shadows. "Seriously dude, is something wrong?"

"We're worried, man." Daveed cut in.

"I don't think I can really tell you. But I can show you." They said nothing, but Chris nodded his head for me to do whatever I had to. I unbuttoned the cuffs of my shirt and rolled them up, revealing my scar-flecked forearms. The collective gasp was enough to tell me they understood. Well, maybe not understood, but could certainly see the damage. Leslie swore quietly under his breath, his whole body tensing. Anthony looked sick, and Renee had gone predatorily still. "Charlie? I can't." The words caught in my throat. Tears were coming. It wasn't surprising given the fact that I hadn't actually yet cried.

"Lin was attacked by a group of nine vampires about a week ago."

"How'd you get away?" I glanced at Charlie.

"There were some hunters in town. They were out and found him."

"Listen, if you're going to explain, you're going to have to do a much better job than that."

"Brendon Urie and Pete Wentz? Do those names ring a bell?" They all vaguely nodded. "They are sunwalkers - a type of vampire integrating into society, indistinguishable from humans except for their violet blood. Pete took down a very powerful vampire in LA around five years ago, and was given emancipation from the Vampire High Court. He was permitted to make his own clan with Brendon and Patrick Stump is his Seconds. They hunt rogues, and were in town for Brendon's show and to come and see ours. As I understand it, Pete and Brendon had a female with them, another sunwalker."

"Thea." I chimed in. At some point I wanted to tell them about her, but not now. Not yet.

"Thea scented blood and they were able to get to Lin in time. A healer friend of theirs gave Lin some of her blood, which healed the wounds. Pete, Brendon and Thea killed eight of the nine vampires, and the ninth was taken to the Alpha of America, who, coincidentally is also named Charlie and also has red hair. But that's not the point. The point is that those vampires were not acting of their own accord. They are part of an illegal clan based in Chicago which has roots, we think, all over the country. Their Alpha want's Lin turned or dead, and Sam, Eileen and a few other hunters are here to make sure that does not happen. There will be one or two of us with him at ALL times until the threat has been cleared. Currently, we have a second team working in Chicago to find the Alpha and take the clan down, but we don't know how long this will take. It could be two weeks, it could be two years. Or more." My friends sat entirely silent as Charlie poured out the story, sparing no detail. By the time they were done, everyone seemed to be in shock.

"What the hell, dude?"

"I know." My voice cracked. "I didn't want to put you guys in danger. Otherwise I would have told you."

"It was a wise decision on Lin's part. In this case, curiosity may very well have killed the cat." She glared pointedly at my friends and cast mates before sighing. "How many of you can fight? Even just a little bit?" Chris raised a hand, as did Renee and Daveed. It didn't surprise me as much as it should have. "Good. You three, keep an eye on the others. I'll make sure my whole team is with you as often as possible, but you'll certainly have a minimum of two of us at a time. You are all going to need to watch each other's backs from now on." Chris straightened. "If this clan can get it's hands on even one of you, then the rest of you are vulnerable. Pete told me before he left that you're all connected."

"How? What did he mean?"

"Pete is psychic. One of his powers is seeing strings of attachment between people. Lin has one to all of you - that's why you're here this evening - which means that if even one of you is taken and harmed, it will hurt Lin. Understand?" They all vaguely nodded but I could tell by the look on Charlie's face that wasn't good enough.

"Do you understand?" She asked. 

"Yes," came the unanimous reply. She glanced at each of them in turn, studying them. It was then that I finally understood why Sam asked her to lead. My friends stared straight back, chins up, backs straight and she seemed satisfied. She indicated for me to stand up and waved me off towards the wings.

"Good. Don't forget it."


	20. Trauma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not a doctor so this is literally me just making crap up and reading stuff on the internet.

**_Lin-Manuel Miranda_**  
I almost didn't make it back to my changing room before the tears started. Charlie stayed outside, waiting respectfully for me to get my stuff together before she and the others would escort me home.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Dean Winchester_**  
Patrick was still crouched by Pete's side. We'd moved him back to the motel room, but things were not looking good. The connection which allowed me to deal with his pain had been broken and after two days of him writhing around in agony, I called my brother. "Sam? Hey, how's Lin?"

"Not brilliant, I think, but coping. All good on your end?"

"No. It's Pete. Rowena did something to him, it's bad. I don't know if he'll make it." There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, people die all the time."

"Dean." Sam reprimanded me.

"Sorry, I know. I just don't know how to fix it. Rowena basically drained all of his blood and replaced it with human blood." Sam went quiet. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing. Well, not nothing. I...why?

"To cure him apparently."

"Sunwalkers and type ones can't be cured." There was a pause while Sam's brain clicked through the possibilities. "I think it's poisoning him. The liver and the kidneys process blood. If I'm right, then he'd need at least a partial transfusion of sunwalker blood plus a new liver and kidneys - depending on the damage."

"Where the hell are we getting enough sunwalker blood for a transfusion? And where the hell are we getting spare sunwalker organs?" The realisation hit me as the words left my lips. "Brendon. What if he's not Pete's blood type?"

"Sunwalker blood is a universal donor."

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Brendon Urie_**  
The call came at three in the morning so Zack and I were on the next plane to Chicago with nothing but the clothes we had hastily changed into. Dean greeted us at the airport and we rushed back to the motel. Alex was already there, prepared. "Brendon, you're going to feel very dizzy for the next few hours while your body restores the lost blood because we're going to have to take far more than we should, okay?" I nodded. "If the transfusion works, we should see improvement within the same sort of time scale. If not..." I raised a hand. I knew what she would have to do, but that didn't mean I was in any way comfortable with it, not when I knew the suppressed memories it would bring up.

"I know, lets just try this first." She nodded once and began. I watched Pete, butterflies twisting my stomach into knots as I watched Pete.

I was aware of time passing, people moving and things happening, but I'd already reached the stage where my body and mind felt numb, almost dulled down, like a human's senses.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Brendon? Hey, you okay?" Dean's voice penetrated the fog clouding my mind. I shook my head to clear the mist and sat up.

"How's Pete?" I asked, dodging the question. The look on his face told me everything. Alex moved into the space where Dean had been.

"Listen, anaesthetic won't work on you, so I need you to stay as still as possible. Patience is going to try and take some of the pain away." Cool fingers touched my temples, numbing my senses again. I tried to relax into it, but the tip of Alex's scalpel piercing my skin destroyed any sense of peace. Luka's face flashed before my eyes.

"No, no, please, you can't, don't, please, no!" I shrieked, writhing around. It was happening all over again. Luka cutting into my body and taking my organs. Something solid hit the side of my head.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sensation came slowly, but it was accompanied by pain. I tried to move and sit up, but found I couldn't. A face loomed above me, blurry and out of focus. "No, Luka, please, don't." I begged.

"Hey, Brendon, it's Patrick. It's okay, I'm here." Slowly, my friend's face came into focus. "I'm going to let you go now, okay, so just take it easy." I nodded and he released the straps holding me down. I glanced at chest, finding a new horizontal scar running from my left front to left back just above my waist. Alex's face was the next to fully focus.

"We took about half of your liver and one of your kidneys. We're hoping that will cure Pete and you'll both be able to regrow the rest." Pete, also shirtless, but still unconscious, had a near-identical scar. "I'm sorry there wasn't another way." I nodded and glanced at Zack, not yet trusting my legs to bear my full weight. He strode over, helping me up.

"Brendon, you should cancel the show." I glanced at him.

"No. The show is a promise to fans, I won't let them down." He didn't argue, but I knew there'd be a 'talk' when we got back off the plane at the other end. I glanced back at the others, the entire room having just come into focus. "Call me when Pete wakes up." Alex and Patrick nodded. I attempted to give them at least half a smile, but I was utterly exhausted. My next priority would be to sleep on the plane, play the show and then go immediately back to sleep in order to give my body time to recover. It would take a day at least, maybe two.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Dean Winchester_**  
I watched as Zack helped Brendon into the passenger seat of a hired car, climbing into the driver's seat and giving us a sharp nod before driving away. I'd always thought Brendon was a little too shallow, but my opinions had clearly been wrong. Whatever he went through, I never wanted it to happen to anyone ever again.

Pete woke rather quickly, sitting up quickly enough that Alex winced. Her healing power was still coursing through his body, trying to repair any damage that his body might not be able to heal on its own. I ushered the variety of other people who were still hanging around out, except for Alex and Patrick, who hovered. Cas locked eyes with me in the doorway momentarily, in a way we'd been doing since our Dad first adopted him. A way meant to reassure and comfort. I closed the door, leaning my forehead against it. Behind me, Patrick was trying to comfort Pete, reassuring him. At the same time, Alex was attempting to check his vitals. Eventually, Patrick grew impatient and waved Alex away, calling me over. I sat gingerly next to him on the bed. He glanced at me. "How do you deal with it? The guilt and the pain?"

"Dude, hell if I know, I'm only four months older than you." My attempt to lighten the mood took away at least some of the awkwardness. "Brendon... you should call him." Pete nodded.

"I need a moment. Alone." I stood up, towering above him.

"Yell if you need anything." He glanced at Patrick, who looked hurt, but did stand up and leave with me.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Pete Wentz_**  
It was ringing. Brendon's voice echoed down the phone, sleepy, but with a hint of fear, as if I'd awoken him from a nightmare. "Hey."

"Alpha." Usually I hated the formality of the greeting, but it seemed reassuring now. "Thought I owed you." I stared at my hands.

"You didn't. But even if you did, you don't now." I paused. Brendon was unusually quiet on the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry they made you go through that. What he did to you was because of me and I don't think I will ever forgive myself for it." This time a response shot back.

"No, Pete. It's...It's not okay, but it's finished with. Luka is dead, and he's not coming back. We'll recover, in time. We have forever."

"Thank you Brendon. Let's try not to do this too often."

"Sounds like a good plan. We could both do with getting some sleep though, if our bodies have any chance of recovering properly." For once, he was the one being sensible. I sighed.

"Okay. Text me when you're free and we can talk if you need to."

_'Or come and talk to me in here if it's desperate.'_ I spoke down our mental connection. At the other end, he gave an almost imperceptible nod before disappearing.

"Pete? You're the best brother I could possibly ask for." I smiled despite the circumstances. "But I'm tired. Goodnight."

"Night," I said as Brendon hung up. I turned on the bed to lay down and close my eyes. Images flashed through my mind. Dark in the light, light in the dark. Bad in the good, good in the bad. One theme consistent in every memory:

Hope.


	21. The Passage of Time (Broadway!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty sure we're not supposed to talk about 2016 because it was a Bad Year™.
> 
> I have tried to keep things true to real life events, however, for reasons, there are some minor changes. I realise now that if you haven't done full-diva/stalker-ish research then it won't make a difference but still.

**_Brendon Urie_**  
It was not long before Fall Out Boy was required to leave Chicago to go on tour, leaving the full-time professional hunters to continue the search for the elusive clan.

As time went on, attacks came and went, their frequency uneven enough that there seemed to be no pattern. Then, they were quiet for a month, then two, then six, then a year. We kept hunting for them, when and where we could, but having killed several dozen of their operatives, we figured they’d gone into hiding and were figuring out a way to kill us - which wouldn’t be easy given that we were under the official protection of the Alpha of America. We knew this clan wouldn't be taken down anywhere near as quickly or easily as Luka's had been, so we went back to our lives. Shows were played, tours began and ended. Every so often, Sam or Dean would get in touch to tell us about the situation. Somehow, they didn't resent the fact that we were not always there to help them. Maybe they figured that they didn't need anyone else to protect in a fight.

~~~~~~~~~~

The letters fell on my doorstep in late 2016. Sarah handed them to me over breakfast, and when we were finished, I opened them. The first was an offer for me to play Charlie Price in Kinky Boots on Broadway for two and a half months later in the year. I sat staring at it blankly, confused for a long while before opening the second letter to reveal Lin-Manuel Miranda’s scrawled handwriting.

_Hey Brendon,_

_It’s been a while, I know, but do you remember our conversation from earlier this year?_

-I did.-

_Well, I spoke to some people, who spoke to some other people, who spoke to some more other people. It didn’t take me explaining much for them to want you. Much as I would love for you to play Alex,_

-It took me a moment to realise he meant the title character from the musical he wrote.-

_you have no broadway experience. Your performance experience and past certainly make you an excellent choice for the future, but not just yet. And I realise that makes me sound like an ass, but Alex is kind of my baby._

_Anyway, my point is, thank you for everything you’ve done to help me. If you do this, and enjoy it, then feel free to get in contact about Hamilton in the future. And of course, if you wish for tickets while you are in New York, text me._

_Lin_

I stared at the two letters. Sarah glanced at me from across the table. 

“You okay?” I swallowed, attempting to process it in my mind.

“Yeah. I think. You remember like two years ago, I got emailed asking if I wanted to go see Kinky Boots and of course I said yes - I mean, it's like, one of my favourite musicals ever - and then I got to meet the director and producer at the show?" She nodded. "I’ve been offered Charlie Price.” She nearly choked on her coffee. When she was finished coughing I raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Nothing. I didn’t say anything. You’re going to take it?” She asked. I weighed the options in my head. I wanted to take time out, but I’d already just been lazing around the house for two weeks and was beginning to grow bored. This provided the perfect opportunity to take a break from my music career and dive into something new.

“I want to. It's only about nine or ten weeks, starting on the 26th of May. What do you think?” Her opinion was the most valuable thing in the world to me, and I wasn't sure I'd do anything without her approval.

“Oh yeah, definitely.” I glanced up from the letters, raising an eyebrow.

“What makes you say that?” 

“Um, maybe the high-heels part. Or the dancing. Or the acting. Or, you know, all of it?”

“I’ve worn heels before.”

“Yeah, I know, but this is different and much cooler.”

“Right. So that’s a yes then?” She nodded and I sighed, preparing to call the number on the letter. “Oh, also, Lin said he could get us tickets to Hamilton again if you wanted to go.” She nodded.

“I’m still pissed that you went without me. And that you got to see the original cast.” I smiled as innocently as I could.

“Sorry.” I dialled the number. It was answered on the second ring by a voice which was rather difficult to place. 

“Hello? How can I help?” The director's voice was recognisable, even with the slight distortion of the phone.

“Hey, my name is Brendon Urie I received a letter regarding the role of Charlie Price in Kinky Boots on Broadway?”

“Oh, yes, Brendon! I’m glad you called. Lin spoke highly of you.” Sarah smirked as I turned a rather bright shade of red.

"I'd like to do it."

"That's wonderful. I'll send everything to you, and you will receive a letter about two weeks before you need to be here in New York for rehearsals."

"That sounds good, thank you so much, this is an incredible opportunity."

"It's my pleasure. Sorry I have to cut this call short. I'm in a meeting, but I wanted to be the one to talk to you."

"Oh, well, thank you so much." They hung up and I sighed. Part of me wanted to relax, the 5-year-old-child part of me was internally screeching. The child won out. "I'm doing broadway, I'm doing broadway, I'm doing broadway!" Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Mmm hmm. See you later, okay?" I nodded, preoccupied with the knowledge that I was about to make my Broadway debut. The prospect was like most things - both exciting and terrifying.

~~~~~~~~~~

I had to be in New York for rehearsals two weeks before the my debut, and by then, I had extensively listened to the soundtrack (not that I hadn't anyway) and watched the film several times over. My accent was questionable, but conversations over the phone with the various members of Area 11 had helped, even if it still lacked the specificity needed. But that was what the two-hour phone call with a dialect coach was for. I was still struggling with singing in accent and dancing and acting all at the same time, but after the first week of rehearsals I was beginning to find my grip. Lin had confirmed that he would be coming to see it, as had most of my clan, which only served to make me more nervous. I'd also recorded demos to an entire album's worth of songs.

Opening night drew steadily closer. On May 26th, I was stood outside the theatre, to walk in as I had for the last two weeks, and somehow, now, it was the most daunting thing I had yet to face. Then, I was sitting in my dressing room in my first costume, hearing a voice over the loudspeaker: "Five minutes people, five minutes." Heart pounding in my chest, I headed towards the stage to take my opening position. Various actors and actresses wished me good luck (in the twisted, rather backwards way that stage performers and theatre nerds do - _'break a leg'_) as they rushed off to take their positions.

The curtains began to rise.


	22. Who?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was...ugh...IDK...really hard to write which is why it's shorter than some of the others. I have like almost no motivation to write this super-recent time period despite having the inspiration. Of course I have tons of motivation and inspiration to write the 2020's. Kinda down atm. It would be nice to know people like reading this fic. 
> 
> Also, CONTENT WARNING: Swear word. - I WILL NOT be making this a regular occurance.

Until September, we were free - relatively speaking. Aside from our commitments to recording our new album - Mania - I had no obligations to be anywhere doing anything with anyone. So of course the logical choice was to head back to Chicago to check up on progress with the illegal clan, who had been ominously silent for rather longer than I liked. Not that their silence was necessarily a bad thing. The number of unclaimed or unpunished vampire on human crime dropped significantly, but the number of missing persons was growing nationwide. It was making me and Patrick somewhat nervous. The news did not get better upon arriving. Dean informed us that there was still almost no evidence of their existence, other than their complete lack of existence. Upon calling Sam in New York, I was told that other than the original attack and three which followed it, there had been no more attacks on Lin. 

Strangely though, my appearance in Chicago triggered something in the illicit clan. While patrolling with Dean and Jody one evening, we came across a man, leaning against a wall, nothing but a hood to protect him from the rain which hammered down from the sky. Every one of my senses screamed that there was something very wrong about him. Even Jody - powerless, human and 'fragile' as she was - tensed up. He turned, pulling his hood down to reveal a face which was entirely opposite to what I'd been imagining for the past year. Where I'd seen fangs and horns and blood red eyes holding the promise of violence stood a man who looked to be in his early fifties, brown hair turning the same shade of grey as his eyes. Something about him was... wrong, but my grasp on it was like my hands were coated in oil and I was attempting to hold onto a wet soap. Right when I thought I had it, the wrongness slipped away. It took all my concentration just to keep him in focus.

"Difficult, isn't it?" His voice was gentle, lyrical, sweet almost, yet haunting, like wind screaming through a long-abandoned church, and he stood still, like a statue who moved only when you weren't looking. Forgettable. "Holding on to me, keeping your memories of me. Oh, how many times we've bumped on the street. How many times you've walked past me, not wanting to see." Focusing so hard on him was beginning to make my mind ache.

"You're him? The alpha? We've been looking for you?" The man pushed off the wall, moving swiftly and surely towards us, his head tilted in such a way that the only thought on my mind was _'Warning: Predator'_. I cursed internally. I was a god-damn sunwalker and this stranger was making my brain go haywire.

"I am." He confirmed. It was good enough for me. I attempted to lunge forward, my blade drawn, but something stopped me. Uncertainty. The male smiled, studying the three of us. "You know, I discovered this recently. My power makes me unnoticeable and near-invisible when I want it to. And it can trick even a psychic mind. So while your eyes are able to see me, your brain can't process the image it is receiving. It's why you don't want to look at me. You could try fighting me, but you'd be fighting blind. So I could stand here," he moved, standing only a few inches away from the end of my blade, "but you can't do anything about it." He seemed so relaxed. I tried scanning for a psychic signature, but there was nothing. He was right. "Well, you could try, but it wouldn't end well." Dean growled, the sound emanating from low in his throat - a sound I'd only heard Brendon make before. 

"How about you drop the crap and fight like a real man." It wasn't a request. The male smiled but did no such thing.

"And why would I do that?" Dean looked entirely stumped for an answer. "When you figure it out, come let me know."

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Alex Newton_**  
I dashed over the road to where Dean, Jody and Pete were standing chatting. "Who was that?" They turned, frowning in confusion.

"What?" Dean asked rather ineloquently.

"You were just talking to a guy. Greying brown hair, maybe five eleven?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Pete told me.

"Come on. He was right in front of you. You were talking to him less than a minute ago. He put something in your pocket, Jody." The woman pushed her hands into the pockets of her jacket, pulling out a small envelope. She opened it carefully, reading the words it contained.

_You'll have forgotten our encounter by the time you read this. My name is Nathan Hughes and I am Alpha of Natus ex Morte. I know you are hunting me, but you should know now that I am not the only Alpha of this clan. If you do manage to kill me, know I will be very impressed, but also that there are at least two dozen more across the world who will take my place. Natus ex Morte is innumerable and we have resources which stretch far beyond any 'power' you think you have. You have fame, we have connections. Which do you think will win out? I have sent assassins to kill the traitor you helped in LA. The members of my clan know they are expendable. If you want to win, perhaps you should make the same thing clear to your clan. I want you to know that however many you kill, there will be a hundred more behind them. You killed eight of my best. That makes things personal, but I do not wish for your deaths. Yet. Unless you begin to bore me or start to get too comptant at killing my operatives, your lives are your own, just know that there will always be someone close by to carry out a hit should I order it._ Jody glanced up at Pete and Dean. While Pete looked scared, Dean just looked angry.

"What the hell?!" I glanced at him, too busy processing to pay any attention. It seemed this alpha knew more about the Youngblood clan than we knew about Natus ex Morte.

"Maybe you should leave them alone, for now, at least until you have some better evidence."

"I don't remember him."

"Pete," I tried to catch his attention. "Pete." A bell rang nearby and the street filled with students, which made me realise there was another question we had yet to answer. Sighing, I attempted to take control of the situation. "Jody, go and talk to Cas and Claire. Take the letter. Dean, help me with Pete." Dean gripped the shorter man's elbow as Jody disappeared into the crowd of teenagers. Between the two of us, we managed to steer him into a quieter back alley. Dean stood at the entrance, no doubt intimidating ever person who even came vaguely near the alley. I focused on Pete, who was desperately trying to catch his breath. I placed my left hand on his chest and the other on his right shoulder. Focusing my power on his airway, I attempted to open it up to allow more air through. Soon enough, Pete's breathing had slowed and he seemed to come back. "Pete, you okay?" He nodded and attempted to stand up, discovering that his legs would not yet hold his weight. Dean wandered towards us.

"How'd you do that?"

"It's something I've been working on. First few times I tried I messed up the hand positioning. Did you know that healers can deliver bio-electric shocks? Because I did not. And I. have. not. stopped. shocking myself since." I paused after every word for emphasis while Dean winced.

"When you say bio-electric shocks, what does that mean?" I'd never attempted to explain it.

"I actually don't know how it works exactly. I just know that they are much more effective than what is used in hospitals at getting the heart to start beating again. And it feels tingly in my palms." Pete staggered to his feet. "Hey, be careful." He seemed like he wanted to scowl but was too exhausted. Leaning heavily on Dean, Pete spoke.

"So we're supposed to be fighting a clan which has dozens of alphas and thousands of operatives across the WORLD who they are not concerned about killing if they get out of hand and who knows every single thing about us, our clan and our lives?" Pete asked me. I winced and nodded. He huffed a sigh. "We are so fucked."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this thing about things needing to be posted in order, which is why I won't post the 2020 stuff until I've done all of 2017-2019. Leave a comment, tell me if you want me to finish the 2010's or start the 2020's early.


	23. Defiant Fear

**_Brendon Urie_**  
Once Pete brought the clan up to speed on his and Jody Mills’ encounter with Nathan Hughes, we were all on edge. Mikey and Gerard Way had called the hunters (who after a year of silence from the illegal clan had returned to their lives) and they’d headed to Chicago. Although I hadn’t seen the point of going, admittedly there was something pulling me towards the city, but I was contractually obliged to stay in New York until I finished on Broadway. Besides, what I was doing was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity unless I intended to go into Broadway permanently, which I had no plans to do in the immediate future. According to Gerard, Alex was the only person who could remember seeing Nathan at all, we assumed due to her healer’s abilities. She had tried to get a lock on his location, but without having a good hold on his genetic code, there was nothing she could do to track him.

The Winchester Brothers had also recently returned to helping Gerard and Mikey in Chicago, with a new member, Jack, who we were told was a demi-breed, adopted son of Castiel. Apparently, the situation was complicated and none of the Winchesters had wanted to fully explain it, which, admittedly, was rather typical behaviour for them.

In addition to the Winchester and Way brothers, Fall Out Boy was in Chicago recording their album, which Patrick was halfway to postponing. The fact that Andy had managed to chorale them into the studio at all was a miracle, especially given how jumpy Joe apparently was. Patrick hadn’t said much other than that Pete and Andy had spent a lot of time attempting to calm nerves.

While the band spent most of their waking hours recording, Pete spent most of his ‘sleeping’ hours hunting with Gerard or Mikey or both. Patrick hadn’t said anything to his bassist, but I knew there would be an argument at some point, and it would probably be Pete’s fault. Gerard had told me that he and Pete had already argued with Mikey. The younger of the Way brothers had a new-born daughter at home, and neither his brother nor Pete wanted him in harm’s way. But like everyone else in the clan, Mikey could be stubborn when he wanted to be.

I hadn’t heard from Tyler or Josh in a little while either, but they were away on tour and it was to be expected. Lin had headed to London with his pregnant wife and his son after his run in Hamilton ended to film for his silver screen debut as well as to help the Hamilton London cast prepare for opening night. I knew Lin was processing things – in fact, he’d called to talk to me on a near frequent basis. Some questions were about me and Pete, about sunwalkers and vampires among other things. Other questions were more private, personal. Even now, he was still attempting to process. I didn’t blame him. It was a lot for anyone to take in. There was one question which caught me off-guard. “What about Bronx?” It seemed like an innocent enough question, until I really thought about it. Unlike Saint and any future children of Pete’s, Bronx was entirely human. We’d planned to induct children into the clan at age sixteen – if they wanted to join – and with that would no doubt come the offer of immortality, which I supposed could happen on induction night, or not for a little while after. The question was, _what happens to Pete if Bronx doesn’t take the offer?_ Losing Sarah would be hard enough (she’d already made quite clear that she didn’t want to be a sunwalker), but I couldn’t imagine losing a child.

That thought led to an afternoon of rumination where I considered the mortality of my friends and clan members and ended in a performance which I wasn’t particularly proud of.

As for me, well, Broadway was doing strange things to my brain. I had more ideas than ever, each of them just bouncing around inside my head until I had a chance to write them down. Thea called me in the morning on the 18th June, and that was the point I discovered my creative outlets tended to be Thea and Pete’s brains. Both of them had apparently had snippets of half-formed songs rattling around their heads for days on end and it was driving them to the edge of insanity that they couldn’t just play the rest of the song. I winced and apologised sincerely, but both of them seemed rather forgiving, and promised to write down as much as they could so I wouldn’t have to worry about it when I got back. Mind you, I could tell Thea was under stress. Stress caused her powers to have a similar effect. I'd had to send multiple texts to tell her to quit changing my appearance overnight. I knew it wasn't a conscious decision, but it still set me on edge when I woke up miles too tall or with strange coloured hair or - one time - as a woman. Not that I wasn't a really hot woman.

It took me three weeks for the realisation that Thea could hide my tattoos rather than having to cover them with makeup every night to strike. When I texted her to ask, she replied only with _'Dumbass.'_, which I took to mean she'd figured it out ages ago.

Speaking of Thea, she had finished school for the year and was hanging out in the House of Memories with Jane – who despite not being in the clan (yet) had a very distinctive mental signature primarily comprised of compassion and kindness – and another person who Thea had told me was their new drummer, Darcy. Sarah had been keeping an eye on the three of them and her hanging out with them had made me realise how much I missed her. How much I missed all of them.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Pete Wentz_**  
It was late in the morning. I was supposed to have been at the recording studio an hour ago and I knew that my phone was holding at least five voicemails telling me to get my ass over there, but Gerard and I had found a scent in the early hours of the morning and were determined to follow it to the end. It had taken us well out of the city but had looped round and re-entered on the western side. Then just as we thought we were getting somewhere, the trail went cold in the middle of a street. Both Gerard and I felt like banging our heads against a wall. Repeatedly.

Of course, that was when Patrick showed up. “Where have you been? You were supposed to be at the studio over an hour ago.”

“Yes, Patrick, thank you. I know.” I told him sarcastically.

“Where the hell were you? Hungover?” I gave him a look which I hoped implied that he was being an idiot. “What were you doing then?”

“I was hunting, Patrick.”

“We’ve talked about this Pete. I thought we agreed we wouldn’t hunt alone.”

“Gerard’s here.” Patrick threw his hands up in despair.

“Great. Who else have you dragged into this, Pete? Who else are you willing to risk getting hurt?”

“Anyone it takes to find this… this… bastard!” I shrieked, slamming my fist into the wall, pausing to blink only when I realised that my fist had gone clean through the bricks. It was then that five figures dropped from above, all of them clad in white clothing which left none of their skin exposed to the early July midday sunlight. Four of them encircled me while the fifth grabbed Patrick, holding some kind of blade to his neck. I growled a warning and dropped my stance to prepare for a fight, but it had no effect.

“We are born of death,” the voices came from all five at the same time, guttural, three males and two females. I spotted Gerard emerging from shop across the street where he’d headed to fetch lunch. His eyes widened and he caught my eyes, flicking his own to the roof of the building next door. “The Alphas have a message for you.”

“Oh yeah?” I stood up straighter. “Well, why don’t they come tell me themselves?”

“The message is this…” The one holding Patrick shifted position slightly, one arm across my friend’s chest, they moved the knife from his neck to his side. Patrick stared at me with panic in his eyes. I heard the crack of ribs breaking and the wet grinding sound of a knife sliding into flesh moments after I attempted to break into a sprint towards him. Two of the white-clad figures caught me, holding me back and forcing me to my knees. Patrick’s eyes went wide as he stared down, red blood spilling onto his blue jeans from his left side. He coughed once, blood dribbling from between his lips onto his t-shirt. “Keep hunting us and we will not rest until every one of your friends dies in agony.” Their voices rang in my ears, as if they were inside my brain. Distantly, I heard the thud as Gerard hit the ground, tucking and rolling, slicing through one vampire’s achilles tendons and stabbing another straight through the chest as the momentum of the roll got him to his feet. Upon seeing Gerard, all red eyes and fangs, wielding two celestial blades, the remaining three scattered, dropping Patrick to the ground. I stood up, rushing to Patrick’s side, leaving Gerard to deal with the downed vampire.

“Patrick, hey, I’m here. Let me heal you.” Patrick shook his head weakly.

“No. Hospital, Pete. Now.” I nodded, scooping him into my arms and scanning the area around us for sounds of the nearest hospital.

“Hey, Patrick, stay with me, okay? Oh god.” His blood leaked into my clothes, the scent throwing itself up my nose. I felt sick, but I couldn’t stop. Not until he was safe. I knew my eyes had turned violet the moment his blood had been exposed to the air, but now my fangs were forcing their way out. “Patrick, you need to keep pressure on that wound. Don’t pass out. Please don’t pass out.” It was an eternity to the hospital, but even eternities end.

“Hey?! My friend was stabbed.” Thankfully it was a Tuesday lunchtime and the hospital’s emergency room was relatively empty. From there on, the nurses took over and I had nothing left to do but sit down and attempt to relax. Patrick was in good hands; he would be fine. One of the nurses sat down with me to go over details and it was halfway through our conversation before I realised, he was staring at me weirdly. Not long after that, he asked.

“Hey, uh, are those contacts?” A second wave of panic gripped my chest.

“Oh, um, yes? I was on my way to a kids party to entertain…” I babbled some nonsense, hoping this would end quickly and I could go to the bathroom to clean up and deal with the issue my eyes were presenting me. I was eternally grateful for the fact that my fangs weren’t visible unless I really opened my mouth, so talking wasn’t a problem. When the nurse had finished asking his questions, I nodded once and wandered towards the toilets, where I leaned my head against the mirror and attempted to compose myself. I blinked at my reflection, rubbing my eyes. Unfortunately for me, the violet did not disappear. After ten minutes of staring into my own soul in the mirror, my fangs did finally put themselves away, but I resigned myself to leaving my eyes as they insisted upon being.

Some inordinate amount of time later, the same nurse returned. “Well, we’ve fixed what we can. There wasn’t as much damage as we were expecting, which is good, but most of it was in his intestines, which isn’t quite so good. He has seven broken and two cracked ribs, but the anaesthetic is wearing off, so he’ll probably be awake in about ten minutes if you want to go and sit with him.” I nodded and the nurse smiled.

Patrick came around agonisingly slowly. “Hey.”

“Hey. You okay?” He swallowed, blinking slowly.

“I’ve been stabbed through the side and had my ribs broken, but aside from that, just thirsty.” I helped him sit vaguely upright before handing him a glass of water that the nurse had left on the bedside cabinet. I bit the inside of my lip.

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I should have done more.

“You couldn’t have foreseen this. You’re not Sam. And even if you were, sometime things happen which you can’t stop, even if you’re the best hunter in the world.”

“I know. I just feel helpless. This city is relying on me and I can’t even keep my best friend safe.”

“I know. This whole damn city thinks it needs you, Pete, but not as much as I do. That’s why I came to find you.”

“You didn’t have to. I was fine, I knew what I was doing. Besides, Patrick, your wife needs you alive. I need you alive. That’s why I didn’t tell you. I can deal with Hughes on my own.” Patrick twisted, trying to hide the wince of pain as he grabbed my wrist.

“We’re losing you Pete. And I can’t stand it. I need you back. Not this. You’re all anger and rage and we can’t work with that. Come back to us.” The late afternoon sunlight streamed through the window, making the hazel in his blue eyes glow amber. I prised his fingers off my wrist.

“I have to go.” The guilt was like a plague which refused to leave no matter how much you tried to shake it. Patrick was right, thought. Since Hughes had revealed himself, I was permanently furious – at him for putting my friends in danger, but mostly at myself because I missed it. One thought rattled around my brain day and night. _I could have ended this._ I knew it wasn’t true, especially if what Hughes had said about the clan having more than one alpha was accurate. It would take more than just me to end it, but I still felt the weight of it sitting on my shoulders. As I leaned against the outside wall of the hospital I sighed, opening a long text from Gerard.

_They were both vampires. The one I killed straight away died like a type one, crumbled into ash. I’ve got the other one in a bunker south west of the city. Come quickly._

Come quickly was never a good sign. I understood why when Mikey and Gerard met me outside. “She’s in there. I’ve never seen anything like it. I asked Ray. He said he had, once in the early 1900s,” Mikey told me. The Way brothers followed me down into the concrete bunker. The female was striking – in a very creepy sort of way. She reminded me of the description of Snow White. Jet black hair, white pale skin and bright red-stained lips. Her white clothes were stained red around the ankles. There was a strange, unpleasant scent coming off her too, like death.

“Who are you?”

“We are born of death.” Even alone, her voice held the same guttural quality that it had as part of a group. “We are your salvation and your destruction. We are your end.”

“Fine. What are you?”

“We are born of death. We are your salvation and your destruction. We are your end.”

“What the hell is wrong with her?” I glanced at Gerard, but it was Mikey who answered.

“We don't know. Far as we can tell, she’s a type two.” I flicked my eyebrows upwards.

“Working with a type one? In a _clan_ with a type one?”

“Apparently. But also, there’s this.” Gerard glanced at the female. “Hey, roll up your sleeves.” The female complied all the while keeping a cat-like smile on her face. One arm was entirely made of metal, while the other arm was faded shades of green and yellow. I frowned.

“What the hell?”

“You know how sunlight burns type ones?” I nodded; eyes still glued to the patches of discoloured skin on her arms. “We think that this is what happens to type twos.”

“What is it?”

“She’s rotting.” That would explain the smell.

“But what about the clothes? None of her skin was exposed.” Gerard winced.

“I rolled up that sleeve while we were still outside.”

“So what? She’s an artificially augmented type two?” Mikey shrugged.

“Looks like it. We just don’t know whether it’s just her or whether all of them are like that.” I frowned at the metal arm.

“How is it connected?”

“Bio-mechanical wires fused into her nerves. Which means they have some kind of bio-mechanic. If that’s a healer like Alex Newton, we’re screwed.” Another thought crossed my mind.

“Tracking chip?” Gerard and Mikey shared a look.

“Don’t know.” We all glanced at the female, who kept up her lazy smile. I nodded and swallowed.

“Get rid of her. I don’t care how or where, just make it far away from here. I would suggest attempting to burn her. I’ll scrub this place out.”

“Then what?” Mikey asked. He looked… vulnerable. He was no less capable than his brother or any other member of our clan, but still. Gerard had a look I’d seen before. Defiant fear. It was one I’d seen in Thea’s eyes. They deserved for me to tell them it would be okay, and we’d make it out.

My answer was not the one they deserved. “I don’t know.”


	24. Summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> July/August 2017

**_Thea Elliot_**  
“Hey, Thea? What if we changed this verse and put this in?” Jane handed me a sheet of paper with chords and lyrics written on it. I put my folder full of drama work down and glanced over the paper. This was due to be our first original album and it had to be perfect. The clan had made it clear they were available if we needed help, but we were only a few weeks in and hadn't really hit any problems yet, although I imagined we might have difficulty editing the recordings of separate instruments, but even then, I was almost sure that we'd be able to figure it out. I'd always been good at things like that. I waved a hand for Jane to pass me a guitar and frowned at the chords, finding the pattern. 

“Yeah, actually that’s good." Darcy appeared in the doorway, carrying a tray containing two oversized mugs of coffee, a cup of the blend and a glass of milk. He handed out drinks and slumped onto the end of my bed. At this point, a month and a half in, we hadn’t yet headed to the House of Memories’ soundproof recording studio, and although my bedroom was technically big enough to fit a drum kit in, my piano was in the way, so Darcy generally just hung around to sigh and correct my frankly disastrous attempts at writing drum lines. “You know, if we want to get anywhere, we should actually at least go and record a little bit of something.” Jane glanced at me.

“Thought you were working on an assignment?”

“Yeah but it can wait. It's the summer holidays. Besides my girlfriend and my best friend are here. And some other random dude.” I grinned at Darcy, who rolled his eyes. Jane had been my best friend since we were thirteen and my girlfriend since we were sixteen. Darcy was relatively new to the group, a friend Jane had made at college in Scotland, but aside from a few minor arguments, he was generally a good addition, and didn't seem all that bothered or surprised about everything that had happened to me and the other band members over the last few years. Jane sighed and stood up, unfolding all 5ft9 of her from the floor. We headed down to the studio, our folder full of unmade music tucked under my arm. 

It took us another half hour to actually begin sitting down and recording the demos. We had maybe eight songs outlined, with four or five which were only chords or lyrics or half a minute long. We got two songs demoed in that afternoon and by the end of August, the entire album was beginning to come together, but all of us had to go back to school. I emailed the demos to Pete, Patrick and Brendon but since they were occupied with recording their own albums - both of which were due out next year - and Brendon was attempting to do post-production on his live album and Fall Out Boy was also preparing for tour, I didn't expect them to even check their email anywhere in the near future.

Despite that, emails from all three of them pinged into my inbox within a week. With school starting up again, it took me another week to get around to looking at them. All three were positive, and each one had similar comments regarding two of the songs, accompanied by comments letting me know that they could set aside a little time to help if I needed it. I forwarded the emails to both of my band members and then refocused on school. It was the last year, and I couldn't afford to let my focus slip.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Patrick Stump_**  
Pete was beginning to worry me. Pete always worried me, but he'd been okay for years. I mean, he'd had his up and down moments, but generally, he'd been doing well since the band got back together, and now, thoughts of Nathan plagued not only his waking hours, but also the very little sleep that he got as it was. Several times in the past few weeks, Joe had commented that I looked tired and I brushed him off, trying to ignore the fact that I was getting second-hand nightmares from Pete. At least he was psychically around now, even if his mind wandered. The stab wound in my side still twinged occasionally, but the stitches were out, so that was good. "Hey Andy, has Pete spoken to you?" Our drummer glanced up from attending to a blister on his finger.

"No?" I bit the inside of my lip out of nervous habit, jumping when Joe cursed loudly. In attempting to restring one of the guitars, he'd snapped a string and it had left a nasty gash in his hand. Andy sighed and took the med kit over to help Joe deal with it. I leaned against the mixing desk, zoning out momentarily - at least I thought I was until I opened my eyes and the room had turned sideways. I frowned and blinked. "You were falling asleep on your feet. How much have you slept recently?" I stifled a yawn and sighed rubbing my eyes.

"Not enough. Sorry, Antero's been keeping me up. He's, uh, ill at the minute," I lied.

"And? You were never this zoned out when we were recording AB/AP and you had Declan then."

"Fine. It's not that. Well, it is, but it's not just that. I'm worried about Pete."

"Pete's an under-grown-ass man, he can take care of himself."

"Yeah, I know. I just think he's being reckless.

"Pete? Reckless? Never," Joe said, his voice dripping sarcasm.

"I know Pete's always been a little thoughtless about things like this, but it's different now. I spoke to him a while ago, but he already knew. It's like he's measured and calculated everything he's doing and he just doesn't care about the consequences. It scares me. And I've been getting second-hand nightmares from him for months. He's trying to deal with everything on his own."

"He has been rather absent," Joe noted. A knock on the door disrupted our conversation and Andy sighed.

"We'll talk about this later." I nodded. "Come in." Mikey Way's head popped around the door, followed by the rest of his body and his bass.

"Pete said you might need a bassist."

"Yeah, we need _our_ bassist. Look, no offence, but you're no Pete Wentz." Mikey raised an eyebrow.

"Pete basically taught me everything I know about bass. And other things. What do you need me to play?" I glanced at Andy. Pete made most of the decisions when we were recording, but when he wasn't around, that duty fell to Andy, as the drummer, it was his responsibility to keep us together and in time.

"Might as well give it a shot. I don't like it, but I'd rather have Mikey than no one." I nodded and sighed.

"Get your crap out. Andy and Joe will run through the music with you. I'll be right back." I wandered down the corridor and stumbled into the toilets, lifting the edge of my t-shirt to reveal the neat scar between my ribs and my hips.

"What is that?" Joe's voice echoed from behind me.

"Joe! What are you doing?"

"I _was_ going to the toilet. What the hell happened?"

"Some of Nathan's clan caught up with Pete and me. They wanted to make a statement about what they would do if Pete kept hunting for them. Apparently it entails a long, slow, painful death for all of his friends. Had to go to the hospital to fix it, stayed overnight, came back here the day after that. It's not a big deal." Joe moved closer, lifting the edge of my shirt to study the scar.

"Uh, yeah, it is, Patrick. You should have told us."

"Why? What difference does it make?" Joe stepped back, pain, frustration and understanding on his face. He sighed.

"It doesn't."

"Exactly. So what's the point in bringing it up? I'm going to head out for food. You want anything." He shook his head. "Catch Mikey up. I'll attempt to call Pete. I'm sure Andy is going to want to talk to us about something this evening, so we can talk then." Joe nodded and I wandered outside, ignoring the twinge in my gut as I leaned against the wall.

_Hey Pete. Look, I know this whole situation with Hughes is messed up, but we need you to come back. I understand you feel guilty, but if you keep running away from us, then you're going to feel a hell of a lot more guilty, because when he comes for us, and he will whether that be in two weeks or twenty years, our blood will be on your hands, because you had the chance to stop it and you were busy hunting dead ends. None of us blame you, Pete, but we will if you're not there and we die. We love you Pete, come back to us._

It was too much. Everything was just... too much. I wanted to believe in the good of the world, but every time something positive happened, oceans of bad washed it away. I slid down the wall, sitting on the ground with my chin on my knees, tucked into my chest. "Please Pete. Come back."


	25. Coming Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also August 2017, so kinda a little bit after but also at the same time as the last chapter.

**_Brendon Urie_**  
"Hey! God I missed you." I grinned, wrapping my arms around Sarah's waist. She returned the smile and broke away to deal with two over excited puppies. 

"Bogart, get down. Lunch will be ready in ten minutes, go do what you need to do." I smiled and heaved my suitcases up the stairs, beginning to unpack and throw things in the laundry basket, changing into significantly comfier clothes and then jogging back down to sit at the table for food.

"So. How are things going?"

"Well, the puppies behaved themselves, so that's good. I think Thea had friends over for a couple of months. They said they recorded demos and emailed them to you, Patrick and Pete. We could pop in this afternoon if you like."

"Nah. They've got this. Besides, I want to spend this afternoon with you, preferably in our bedroom." Sarah smiled, blushing like a teenager despite the fact we'd been married for over four years. "But I should check in on them at some point. I need to go to the studio anyway to finish post-production on the live album. Plus I have a whole ton of new ideas I need to get recorded."

"I thought you wanted to take a break." I shrugged and sighed simultaneously.

"I did. But then Broadway gave me all these crazy ideas and they are stubbornly refusing to leave my brain." My phone vibrated on the table next to me and I frowned as Patrick's contact details popped up, glancing at Sarah to see if she had any ideas, but she looked to be drawing a blank. "Hey Patrick, what's up?"

"Stuff. Mikey is recording stuff at the minute so I thought I'd call." Mikey. Not Pete.

"Mikey? As in Way?"

"Yeah."

"Where's Pete?"

"No idea. Haven't seen him in weeks. I have a few questions for you though."

"Shoot."

"Firstly, how would you like to be a llama? We were wondering if you would mind doing a promo video for Mania."

"Sure. Whenever you need me, provided I'm free."

"Awesome. Secondly, have you listened to Thea and Jane's demos yet?"

"No. I only just got back, but I'm going to pop in on them tomorrow."

"Well, tell them they're incredible. Uh, if you hear from Pete, can you text me? I'm worried. He's been acting weird."

"Weird how?"

"I don't know. Distant, detached, angry. I don't think he's slept in weeks, he hasn't stopped hunting Nathan." I sighed heavily.

"Yeah, I'll let you know if he contacts me."

"Thank you Brendon." There was a crash on the other end of the phone, followed by swearing and a profuse apology. "I have to go."

"Bye." He hung up before I finished the word.

"Everything okay?" Sarah asked. I shook my head slightly.

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

"B, deal with whatever it is you need to deal with. I can wait." I closed my eyes and rested my head on the table.

"You shouldn't have to. I'm sorry." I excused myself and headed to the studio, collapsing into the sofa and attempting to get comfortable. I needed to talk to Pete directly, not over the phone. I closed my eyes and dived into my mindscape, finding the bridge which connected Pete to me.

_It had turned darker, like a cloud had stopped and refused to move. As I moved further into Pete's mindscape, it became darker, the ground feeling unstable. "Pete? Hey, uh, Patrick's worried about you. Where are you?"_

_"Here." I turned to find Pete behind me, eyes violet and staring in a way which was frankly rather unnerving._

_"Hey. Uh, are you okay?" I blinked as the hair on my neck began standing on end. "Pete?" I reached a tentative hand towards him and found myself in a bunker, Mikey and Gerard Way standing just in front of me, half hiding a figure in a chair._

"Gerard? Mikey? What's going on?"

"Pete? Come on. Quit being a dick. Listen. He's not going to tell us. They already hurt Patrick. Do you really wanna put everyone else at risk?"

"Seriously, what the hell? Gerard? I'm not Pete." He frowned.

"What?"

"It's Brendon. Pete's just kinda vanished."

"What?"

"I don't know. I came in here to get him and he was there and now apparently I'm in control of his body?"

"That doesn't make sense. You can see through their eyes, but you can't just take control..."

"Unless..." Mikey interrupted. "Unless Pete's not there." Gerard frowned. Not at the concept - that made sense - but at something else.

"Well then where the hell is Pete? He was here a second ago. We were talking to him literally thirty seconds ago."

"Who's the dude?"

"Some member of the Natus ex Morte clan. We caught him about a week ago, but so far, he hasn't told us anything." I glanced at the male and vaguely heard Gerard talking to Mikey about something in the background. He seemed rather calm and composed for someone being held prisoner by Pete, Gerard and Mikey. I scratched absent-mindedly at an itch before realising it was Pete's new tattoo and he would definitely not thank me for ruining it. There was a glimmer of annoyance in the vampire's eyes which seemed out of place.

"Guys." The Way brothers continued talking. "_Guys._" Both of them turned at the same time. "What if Pete is in him? In there? You were trying to find answers, right? And Pete's impatient enough and stupid enough to go in and get them if they weren't being volunteered."

"What do we do?" I closed my eyes and sighed.

"Is this place secure? Does anyone know we're here?" Gerard shook his head. I swallowed and sighed. "Good. Mikey, go home. You have a wife and a months-old daughter at home. Go and be with them. Gerard, I don't know what kind of crap you've got going on, but you've got an eight-year old who needs her dad and Lindsey might not need you necessarily, but I'd rather Bandit grew up with a dad than without." Both brothers looked about to protest, but I ignored them and focused on the vampire. "I am going to pull Pete out, kill that vampire and then take Pete back to Patrick and the others. They are going to finish their album and then they are going to go on tour and we are going to ignore this crap until all of us are in a significantly better position to deal with it."

"Brendon..."

"Don't. Mikey, just don't." He nodded once and disappeared out of the bunker through a heavy-looking metal door. Gerard hugged me.

"Nice to see you. Even if it's not your body. Be safe. Sarah needs you. And your body might be safe, but you need to take care of what's in here," he told me, tapping my forehead.

"I know. I will. In and out to get Pete. I'm not looking for answers." Gerard smiled.

"I know. We need to leave this alone until we're ready to deal with it."

"So glad we're on the same page." I grinned. "Go be with Bandit and Lindsey. I can deal with this." He nodded and disappeared after Mikey. How I would deal with it was another question. I could do with sitting Pete's body down so it didn't get damaged or injured while no one was in it. I could also do with making sure that I minimised the amount of time that no one was in. I sighed and sat down, leaning against the wall, focusing on dropping my consciousness back down into Pete's mindscape.

_I glanced at my watch. 14:36. It wasn't like the body would die if the mind wasn't there, it was more that literally anyone who had any small amount of psychic power could take over if they felt like it. Which in all likelihood was probably not going to happen, but I didn't really want to leave it to chance. 13:37. I focused on the vampire's mind, which was Pete-adjacent, and found myself inside faster than I'd imagined. Three minutes, I decided. I wouldn't leave it more than three minutes. The vampire's mind was - to put it bluntly - chaos. Thankfully, however, Pete was easily visible, standing at the edge of a swirling storm of memories. "Pete!" I called as I closed the distance. He turned and I felt his weight sag into my side. "Pete?"_

_"There's nothing here. This is useless. I'm useless." I breathed a long sigh, attempting to reign in my emotions and school my face into neutrality._

_"No you're not. Pete, come on. We need to get out of here." He sniffed and nodded, his eyes fluttering. He was exhausted. I hoped that with a little rebuttal from his band, combined with a good night's sleep and a few days of recovery time, Pete would be back to his usual self. Medication would categorically be a last resort. We made a pact a few years after Pete's final suicide attempt that if things ever got bad, we would never force each other to take the drugs we'd both been assigned. So far, we'd both stuck to it. If Pete had ever had a problem with me being too boisterous or over-excited, he talked to me about it and I attempted to deal with it however I could._

_I focused back on crossing that flimsy bridge to Pete's mind before severing it and cutting the vampire loose. I wrestled control of Pete's body from the magnetic force pulling the body and mind together and sighed heavily._

Standing up, I pulled Pete's celestial blade out of the sheath on his left hip and didn't hesitate to drive the blade to the hilt through the vampire's heart and watched as it crumbled to dust. A type one then. I sighed and emerged into the afternoon sunlight. Stretching. I could feel Pete's presence lingering. It felt weird being in control of someone else's body while they were still in there. There wasn't a car anywhere nearby so I resorted to running, using Pete as a GPS to tell me where the rest of Fall Out Boy was. Still gathered at the studio, apparently. We arrived and I could feel the physical toll running had taken on Pete's body. I sighed and opened the door, attempting to close it quietly behind me. Everything was calm, right until I walked into the studio. Andy was busy playing something in the soundproofed studio and clearly didn't hear Joe drop his guitar as I stumbled in and collapsed on the sofa.

"Pete? What the hell? Where have you been?"

"No and I don't know and also I don't know. It's Brendon, hi?" Patrick raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Pete's here too, he's just, uh, hiding, I think. I don't know. He's exhausted. Do you have any of the blend here?" Joe grabbed a bottle from a mini-fridge in the corner of the room while Patrick grabbed Andy. I drained the bottle and felt Pete's body begin to start recovering. "I don't have all the details, and I should really get back to Sarah in a minute, but I've got this: Pete could do with three things. Maybe four. One, you all need to tell him how you feel and how what he did was crappy. Two, he needs to sleep, probably for at least two days, during which time I would personally lock him in a windowless room with a couple bottles of the blend and a bed. Three, he needs to recover for at least a few days. And then, everything needs to go back to normal. Don't agonise over this, just deal with it once and get on with this album. You've already postponed release once, I'm not sure the fans will be hugely pleased if you do it again." And with that, I relinquished control, hovering in Pete's mind just long enough to see Andy and Joe start what I hoped would be a fair and honest conversation before returning to my own body. I sighed and sat up, stretching and listening as several joints popped and cracked. Once back in the house, I almost immediately fell straight into bed, utterly exhausted.

~~~~~~~~~~

The following day, I did inevitably visit Thea and Jane in the House of Memories to discuss their album and the demos they'd sent us. I also met their new drummer, Darcy, who Jane had met at college in Scotland, but who was actually English. He seemed like a nice enough guy, although I didn't really spend long enough there to get to know him properly. We went over each track one at a time and I explained where they could improve and why the chorus to one of their songs seemed very out-of-place and didn't really fit the overall album, which they vehemently agreed. We had lunch and got ice creams from a little place by the beach and I had a call from Patrick letting me know that everything was pretty much returning to normal, then I returned home and there was nothing else to be said.

Then, on the second full day of me being home in LA, I finally got the chance to do everything I'd wanted to do with Sarah since leaving for Broadway. And although I told myself I would take a break, by the end of the first week of being home, I'd already spent twenty hours recording demos in the studio between spending time with Sarah, playing video games and watching films. Sarah and I were sat eating popcorn in front of Moana, when I sighed and stretched, nuzzling into Bogart and wrapping an arm around Sarah to pull her closer before gently planting a kiss between her neck and her shoulder. She smiled and twisted to return the kiss just before I sighed contentedly. "It's good to be home."


	26. Nicole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> February 2018

**_Brendon Urie_**  
So many hundreds of applicants meant three times as many hundreds of videos. Sarah handed me a large mug of coffee and then slumped into bed next to me. “How you doing?” I glanced at her affectionately, stretching and draping an arm around her neck.

“Good. There’s a few I’ve picked out for interviews so far. I don’t really want to have to interview more than half a dozen, so I’m really having to cut down. There are some people who are so good, but they’re just not the right fit. I’m putting them in a separate folder to send messages of encouragement to.” She smiled and I felt the weight of her head on my shoulder as I clicked play on the next clip.

Dallon had quit. And it was a huge pain in the ass. Truthfully, I'd known he was going to quit for a while, or I'd at least had a sense of it, but the reality of it actually happening was royally annoying. We hadn't parted on the best of terms. In fact, Dallon had asked Pete to remove him from the clan altogether. Him and Breezy and both of his kids. Yeah, it was fair to say things hadn't ended wll. Still, it gave me the opportunity to give someone else a shot. Each prospective new bassist had been asked to play any song up to two minutes long of their own choosing, as well as pick a song or medley from the band’s Death of a Bachelor tour setlist to learn and play fully, as well as one minute of improvisation. Three videos for each person. So far none of them were holding my attention the way they needed to for fans to accept them. And the fans were the most important in this whole process. 

This video showed a young-looking woman, probably no more than early twenties. The first thing which grabbed my attention was the elegant electric five-string bass sat across her lap. Interesting choice. It certainly gave her an edge. I sat up straighter. She glanced up at the camera. “Nicole Row, Panic! at the Disco bass audition,” then the title of the piece. It was one I’d never heard before, but her timing was impeccable, and she played with both accuracy and feeling. There were fast parts where her fingers flew up and down the neck, her fingers hitting every string perfectly in time, and there were slow parts, double notes, played with emotion and weight behind them. Sarah looked gobsmacked. For me, bass had come easily, naturally, but even I couldn’t play like that. I doubted Pete or Jane, or Mikey or Tyler could either. The piece ran perfectly up to the two-minute mark and not a second over as she finished with a slide down the fretboard. I linked my fingers behind my head and stretched, catching the small smile as she glanced up towards the camera and the screen went black.

“Her.” Sarah stated matter-of-factly. “It has to be her.” I breathed out a long sigh.

“I still need to watch the other videos. She might not fit well.”

“If you don’t hire her, it will be the worst mistake of your life,” Sarah warned. She was right.

“I know.” I clicked on the next video. The same voice echoed from my laptop’s speakers.

“Improvisation.” The smile on Nicole’s face steadily grew as she nailed an awe-inspiring bass line. Even without backing, I found myself humming a tune to it, words absent for now. Beside me, Sarah was holding her breath for the anticipation of the climax which came right as a timer beeped. She went on for a few extra bars to finish the improvised piece and then glanced up at whoever was behind the camera to shut the video off. I heard both myself and Sarah exhale a breath I didn’t realise we’d been holding as I clicked on the third video. Nicole glanced at the camera from beneath her eyebrows and gave a small grin as the opening notes of the _‘Emperor’s New Clothes’_ backing track played. Every note I’d played in the studio during recording, she played back to me, perfectly and just somehow better. Partway through, the tune changed, and I recognised _‘Girls/Girls/Boys’_. The medley built, spiralling back, including _‘Ready to Go’_, _‘Nine in the Afternoon’_ and finishing with _‘I Write Sins’_. When it ended, I slumped against the headboard.

“Wow.”

“Hire her.” Sarah demanded. My phone was already in my hand, dialling the number she’d attached in the email. 

“Hello? Am I speaking to Nicole Row?”

“May I ask who is this? And what is it about?”

“Uh… I’m Brendon Urie. It’s about a job.” There was muffled noise on the other end of the phone.

“I’ll just grab her for you.” I smiled at Sarah, who was sitting impatiently with her eyebrows raised.

“Hello? Who is this?” A soft voice echoed down the line. Not the voice I’d imagined but hey.

“It’s Brendon." I paused, waiting for a reaction. "Urie." The clarification seemed necessary, although I wasn't sure why. "You sent in a few videos a little while ago linked to your application. I just wanted to call you to tell you how incredible you are. I’ve never seen anyone play like that. Uh, I’d like to schedule an interview, but after that, I think the job is yours.” The line went silent.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Uh, are we able to schedule an interview just now then?”

“Of course.” I could hear the grin on her face. “Although, it would be better if you’re able to come to me. I’m kind of… stuck… right now.” I frowned at Sarah.

“Sure. When works best for you?”

“I’m free any time. Literally any time. Whenever suits you best.” I pulled up my calendar on my laptop and grinned. Thankfully, my schedule was relatively empty, for now at least.

“How about next Tuesday at 2pm?”

“Sounds awesome. The address is in my email.” My brows furrowed together a little, but I just smiled.

“See you then, Nicole,” I told her and hung up, trying not to dwell on the conversation. It would only make me more curious and more inpatient. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Next Tuesday came in a blur of recording and discussions with management and discussions with instrumentalists and hanging out with Sarah, who was extremely glad that I was halfway to hiring Nicole without even meeting her. On Monday, I was on a plane to Seattle and three hours later, I was standing, very confused at the front doors of a huge institute. Zack looked sceptical, but I was determined to meet Nicole. I opened the doors and tucked my frozen hands into my jacket. I’d forgotten that Seattle was so far north and as a result had definitely not dressed appropriately for the weather conditions and temperature, which was frankly far below what I was comfortable with. I wandered towards a front desk type area, attempting to give off an air of knowing exactly what I was doing. “Hey, I’m here for an interview with Nicole Row, I’m just slightly confused.” The woman at the desk glanced up and smiled widely in a way which creeped me out a little more than I would have liked.

“Of course. She’s in room 14, just down the hall there.” I nodded and smiled, heading in the direction the woman had pointed and attempting not to overthink the high windows and white-washed walls. Zack was tense. I didn’t like it when Zack was tense, it set me on edge too.

“Zack, can you chill, please. This is going to be fine and you’re giving me bad vibes.” My bodyguard gave me a look. “I’ll take that as a no. Here we go.” I knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Nicole’s voice echoed from inside. The door opened easily, revealing a room as blank and white-washed as the rest of the gigantic building. I closed it carefully behind me and Zack and turned to find Nicole grinning, sitting cross-legged on a bed, her bass on her lap.

“Firstly, it’s nice to finally meet you. Secondly, I am very confused.” She shrugged and hung the bass from the mount on the wall.

“It’s a really, really long story.” Zack snorted and I sighed.

“Zack can you wait outside please.” He looked like he was about to argue, but I sighed and maintained eye contact, letting off a soft growl inside his head which he didn’t argue with. As soon as the door shut behind him, I studied Nicole, head to toe. Her blonde hair was pulled tightly back into two braids, neat and tidy and out of the way. She was wearing a plain, off-white t-shirt and a pair of loose grey jogging bottoms. There was a band around her wrist, the kind people wore in hospital. “Is this a hospital?”

“Maybe. Why?”

“Because, if you need to be here, then I can’t hire you.”

“I’m not crazy if that’s what you’re suggesting. I just saw some things when I was a kid. It doesn’t matter.” Something about her seemed off. The way she was staring at me, fixed, focused.

“It does matter. What happened?” I did not need to hear her sob-story, but something made me want to keep listening. She didn’t reply immediately, rather just tucking her knees under her chin and closing her eyes.

“Everyone told me your eyes are brown.” I frowned.

“They are.” She glanced up at me, shaking her head.

“Then they are a very freaking PURPLE shade of brown. I thought this had gone away.” Heat rose in my cheeks and there was several seconds of my heart thudding while I attempted to not panic.

“You can see my eyes?” I swallowed and consciously flicked the violet colour into place.

“Apparently everyone else can’t."

“Nope. Humans can’t. Just means you’re different." I sighed and slumped lazily next to her. "Like pretty much everyone else I’ve ever gotten close to.” She was silent for a long while and I wondered whether the knowledge I’d just given her was making or breaking her. She huffed out a sigh and a laugh.

“Makes sense. Why would my parents bother telling me? It’s not like they had a child with visions or anything,” she glanced up at me. “There was a man. He killed my mom when I was twelve. I told them he had red eyes, but no one listened to me. He had this English-Italian accent and he told me: ‘You are Nikola, ninth of her name, gifted with the Sight. Find me when you come of age. Go to the City of Angels and ask for Luka Del Moriay. The people will know.’ I had no idea what it meant… are you okay?” Red clouded my vision. Luka had hurt so many people.

“We killed him. Luka? I watched him die.” She blinked.

“Oh.” She seemed remarkably calm given the circumstances. Her possible future employer had told her she was not a human and her mother was killed by someone that he'd personally seen die. Most people would be running and screaming. “If I’m not human, what am I?” I shrugged. 

“I don’t know. No one I’ve ever met can do that though. But I have friends who can find out and a whole book to consult.”

“Does that mean I have the job?” I paused. 

“Oh yeah. I forgot about that.” She tilted her head and gave me a look of bemusement. I sighed and stood up, stretching and studying her. “Sure, why not. Nicole Row, welcome to Panic! at the Disco.” She grinned and stood up to shake my hand.

“Brendon Urie, it is my honour.” She giggled and I rolled my eyes.

“How do we go about getting you out of here?”

“The, uh, nurses all know I was applying for that job. They all want me out of here if only because I am a disruptive influence on the other patients. Tell them you’re my cousin and that I have a place to stay with you. Or tell them you’re my employer. Doesn’t really matter either way. Pretty much any one of them will sign the paperwork. Literally none of them believe I'm actually insane. I'm basically here on a technicality anyway.” I nodded and heaved a sigh, glancing around the room. Aside from the bass, the bed, a desk with a drawer and a well-thumbed book sitting on top, the room was empty.

“Is there anything you need to take with you?” Nicole shrugged.

“Apart from the bass and my book, not really.” I nodded and she pulled the bass from the wall bracket and slung it over her shoulder. She was tall, around my height, and yet it still seemed huge against her frame.

“I’m surprised they let you have something like that here.”

“Eh. After mom, I tried to tell people about the man with red eyes, but no one believed me. I kept insisting, even went out looking for him. Or at least looking for evidence. In the end, I found what I was looking for, but then I was only more convinced. They took me to a kid's facility when I was fourteen because I refused to give up. Dad moved on. It took me three years to convince them to pick up my bass for me and another two for them to let me play without someone watching me like a hawk. My dad died a few years ago and left everything to me in his will, so I have money, but everything I used to own was for a fourteen-year-old, not a twenty-six-year-old. I need to get it sold.” I nodded once.

“In the meantime, I’ve got a 20-year-old living in a huge house all alone. I’m sure she’d be glad of the company.” 

“Who is she?”

“Uh…my protégée? That sounds too formal. I can’t really explain it without explaining what I am, and I don’t know if you’re ready for that.” Nicole shrugged.

“I’ll have to find out eventually. You haven’t actually told me what this Luka guy was.”

“You remember June 2006? They found a body in LA?” Nicole frowned.

“I was nearly fifteen. I didn’t really watch the news.”

“Basically, vampires are a thing? And that’s what Luka was, and I was for a little while and then I became a sunwalker and well, it’s complicated. Anyway, there’s this connection between a vampire or sunwalker and the people they turn, called a sire bond. Luka’s mate came to a show one night in 2013 and Thea was there. She got caught in the fight and I ended up turning her, so she’s sired to me? She's like a little sister to me. And Pete Wentz – my sire – he’s like my short older brother.”

“Okay?”

“There’s a book which explains it better. You can read the digitised copy on my iPad when we get in the air.” She nodded and picked up the book, tucking it under her arm and raising an eyebrow expectantly. 

“Well. Are we going?” I sighed and nodded, realising we’d just been standing chatting while Zack was probably waiting impatiently outside and glaring at anyone who dared get too close.

“Yeah, I should probably rescue Zack. Or rescue everyone else from Zack.” She smirked and nodded a little as I opened the door to indeed find Zack glaring at a young man who looked no more than eighteen and who looked utterly terrified. “Zack, I love you, and you’re a great bodyguard, but could you please not scare every human being who comes within ten feet. It’s starting to get lonely.” I told him, lacing my words with well-intended half-sarcasm. Zack grumbled something which could have been a complaint or an apology and glanced at Nicole.

“She’s good?”

“Eh. We’ll see.” The look on his face was priceless and made both Nicole and I laugh uncontrollably for a good two minutes solid. “We’ll be out in a few minutes. Can you wait by the car?” Zack grudgingly agreed and headed out while I headed to the front desk. “Uh, Nicole is checking out?”

“Oh thank god. She just needs to sign here, and you need to witness that this is an informed decision.” Nicole smirked as she signed the paperwork and I took the pen off her to sign. She didn’t turn back once we were out the doors.

“So, where we headed?” I gestured at the car and Zack sitting in the driver’s seat with a scowl on his face.

“The airport.” I pulled the door open for her and we climbed into the back seat. 

In another three hours, we had landed back in LA and it was only just past six. Zack navigated the rush-hour LA traffic wonderfully, but it still took us twice as long as usual to get home. Nicole had declined to read the book of species on the plane, trading it in favour of sleep. I was not about to blame her. I’d worked through the night several times in the last little while and desperately needed to catch up even just a little. That was also why we ended up opting for sleep in the car too, at least until Zack poked me.

“We’re at the House. I texted Thea. She got one of the rooms ready.” I yawned and poked Nicole.

“Hey, we’re here. Thea knows you’re coming, there’s a room ready for you.” We climbed out of the car and I gave her a brief hug before breaking away.

“Thank you. You’re amazing.” She grinned and began heading straight towards the front door, where Thea opened the door and enveloped her in a hug. Typical. I was at least ninety percent sure that Thea was entirely and completely incapable of _not_ hugging people. I climbed into the passenger seat and glanced at Zack.

“Home?” He asked, sticking the car into gear.

“Home,” I confirmed, pulling my seatbelt on and sighing contentedly. Life, it seemed, would not always be bad.


	27. New Mistakes and Zephyr Guild

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beginning on 14th May 2018
> 
> This chapter is REALLY long, if you need to take breaks, there are these things ~~~ dotted throughout at places which are suitable to take breaks.

**_Thea Elliot_**  
Fall Out Boy had returned from tour about a week ago for a well-deserved break. On the other hand, Brendon, Nicole, Dan and Kenny were ramping up preparations for their tour which would officially start on July 11th. Tyler and Josh spent most of their time in the studio recording their new album and other than phone calls with Gerard, I hadn't seen or spoken to the various members of MCR in a while. 

Jane and Darcy were in the final weeks of their respective degrees and I had just finished my own degree in drama and music. Our album was still only at demo stage, but Jane and Darcy were due to fly over once their courses had finished. We had a planned release date of December 20th, on Darcy's 21st birthday, and then we had planned to begin our first tour - depending how the album went down. All of the bands around us had promised to get us in touch with the best tour managers they knew. 

However, we were also in need of a guitarist. During a long phone call with Jane at the end of April, she'd agreed to let me look for the guitarist on my own - after I'd provided her with a detailed plan of how I would find one. The notice had gone out online and in newspapers up and down the country - though I kept it relatively anonymous, just a job description, an email and a number to call, but no names. That was partly - mostly - to do with the fact that our band didn't yet have an official name. Within a week, we'd had a few dozen applicants, and at the two week stage we were currently at, there was a list of names at least three feet long. Anyone who called or emailed had been given the dates of the initial auditions - the 17th to the 19th of May. Then there would be callbacks within a few days of that and interviews at some point too.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_Zephyr Guild_**  
“Hey, Zed.” I half turned towards my manager and frowned as he threw a rolled-up newspaper towards me. “Page twelve, in the bottom left-hand corner. You can go. I’ll finish up here.” I nodded and smiled, heading to the cloakroom to change out of my work clothes. I was mid-way through dressing when my curiosity got the better of me and I sat down on the bench, flicking through to the point he’d indicated.

_Guitarist needed._

The advert gave a phone number, an email address and a vague description of the job but nothing more. I stared at it sceptically and sighed. It wouldn’t do any harm to call the number. I pulled my t-shirt on and shrugged on my leather jacket, slinging my bag across my shoulder as I headed out to begin walking home, dialling the number. Someone picked up the other end, but they didn’t say anything. I frowned.

“Hello? I’m calling about the guitarist position.”

“Interviews are on the 17th in LA at the Convention Centre.” The voice gave nothing away, and once the information had been conveyed, the line went dead. The seventeenth was only three days away. Thankfully, my next shift wasn’t for a week, so I had time.

As soon as I reached home, I headed straight for my bedroom, pulling my suitcase from under my bed and beginning to pack. I had no idea how long I might be required to stay, so I tightly packed enough clothes for four days, figuring I could just wash things if I ended up staying longer. I pulled up flights and hotels online, double checking my bank balance, extremely glad that I’d been saving for a moment like this. With all that prepared, I popped my head into Nerida's room.

“Hey.”

“Go away.” I breathed a long sigh through my nose.

“We’re going to LA tomorrow. Pack a case.” She sat up, raising her eyebrows.

“Seriously? If you’re pranking me...” I rolled my eyes. 

“Yes seriously. I have an interview. Come on." She sprung off her bed and pulled her suitcase out, beginning to pack.

~~~~~~~~~~

Two days later, we were on a flight to LA, and only a few hours later, we landed at Los Angeles International Airport. I couldn't help the grin which spread on my face and I glanced around. It felt familiar somehow. "Hey, Nerida? You got plans?" I asked as she emerged from the toilet having changed into a pair of shorts and a cropped t-shirt. I was tempted to do the same if only to have a break from the stifling heat, but I also really loved my hoodie. She shrugged and stretched.

"I wanna spend a while in the sea if that's okay?" I swallowed.

"Yeah, I guess. Just be careful, okay? I don't really want to have to explain to your teachers that you've been eaten by a shark." She rolled her eyes. "Two days. Come and check in with me then." She nodded and grinned as we began wandering towards the hotel, which was mercifully less than two miles away. When we arrived and checked in, Nerida dumped her stuff in our room and changed again. Upon discovering her ability to shift to her secondary form, she'd immediately gone shopping for clothes which would work well in water and wouldn't hold her back when swimming. It ended up being a two-piece swimsuit. That way, her gills and fins weren't obstructed by fabric.

"Two days?"

"Three if you count today. We'll head to the beach in a little while. I just want to change and freshen up." She nodded and collapsed onto the bed she'd claimed, scrolling through a social media site on her phone. I sighed and pulled off my hoodie and t-shirt, followed by my jeans. Nerida glanced at me. Or more specifically, at the intricate tattoo-like markings which coiled around muscles and stretched across more than 60% of my skin. Three sets of wings like a dragonfly, one set stretching down the backs of my legs, one set wrapping around my waist and hips and one set stretching along my arms, all the way to my wrists.

~~~~~~~~~~

_**31st March 2012**  
"Mom?" My voice felt weak, hoarse. Even so, my mother was by my side in seconds. "M cold," I mumbled, shivering despite the warmth of my covers. _

_"Oh honey. Do you know what's happening?" I shook my head, but it only made the pounding worse. "This is the Awakening. Your power is coming." I glanced up at her, the shivers racking through my body more fervent every minute. "Do you want me to get you a glass of water?" I nodded as the pounding in my ears began to sound like a thousand ironworkers hammering out a sword. She disappeared and then reappeared with the promised glass of water. "Honey? I'm going to leave you alone for now. I'll call school to let them know you're off sick, okay? Try and go to sleep for a few hours, then you might be able to ignore it okay?"_

_"Okay," I whispered from under the covers as she disappeared back through the doorway, closing the door behind her. Surprisingly falling asleep was not nearly as difficult as it should have been._

_The lights of my alarm clock blinked into focus. 12:13. Something nagged in my mind, but the cloud lingering in my mind was making thinking difficult. I pulled the covers back and stumbled downstairs, solely focused on the rumbling groan of my empty stomach. My parents were sat at the dining table as I entered, wearing nothing but a pair of pyjama shorts and a sports bra. I stumbled straight for the fridge and heard spluttering behind me as I rooted around. "Honey? I turned slowly, tucking into a sausage roll._

_"Yah?"_

_"Is there something you need to tell us?" I stared at them for a moment before shrugging and making a vague noise around a mouthful of food. I was on the bottom step of the stairs when I heard my father's voice. _

_"I've always wanted a son." I stopped dead in my tracks, turning slowly._

_"Mom? What's going on?" She glanced at my father._

_"Honey, you know how I said that in our family, powers are passed down mother to daughter and father to son?" I nodded. "Well, see, if that is the case, then both you and Nerida should have my power."_

_"Water." _

_"Right. But, uh, you don't have my power." I swallowed, pain and nerves twisting in my gut._

_"Well then whose power do I have? What power do I have?" My father stood up from the table._

_"Can we head up to your room?" I nodded and the three of us trekked up to my room, where my dad positioned me in front of the full-length mirror (which I ordinarily never used). "I'm just going to try something, okay?" I nodded warily, then felt his fingers pressing down and around my spine, just in between and below my shoulder-blades. There were six faint popping sounds and then his fingers ran along the edge of something new. Sensitive and delicate. As I watched in the mirror, six large dragonfly wings peeled away from my skin, each pair spanning nearly twice the height of my body. I swallowed and tested them, trying to get a feel for them. My dad smiled in the mirror and indicated to an area over the lower half of my ribs. "Do you see how there are muscles there?" I hadn't noticed before, but now, when I looked, there was a layer of muscle which I was sure hadn't been there a day ago. I nodded. "Those are your flight muscles. They are the muscles which make wings move. Focus on them." I focused on the new muscles, the way they felt, the way the wings felt, and in a few moments, I was airborne. The wings were nothing more than a blur in the mirror, but I felt weightless. I landed as gently as I could before turning to my father._

_"How do you know all of this?" My father glanced around the room, eyes catching on a foam airplane we'd put together when I was barely seven years old. With nothing more than a motion of his fingers, the plane shot into the air, flying around in circles before landing neatly in my hands._

_"Because I have wings too. Because my power is air, and I think yours might be too."_

_"I don't understand what that means."_

_"It means that the power is passing on to the next male in the family. You, Zari." I paused, remaining silent, not sure how to feel or what to say._

_"Zephyr." My parent's faces remained the same aside from the slight confused twitch of their eyebrows. "I'd like to be called Zephyr. And I wanted to tell you for so long, but I didn't know how you'd react. I have this friend, Alexi, and his parents kicked him out when he told them and I was so scared you wouldn't want me." My father opened his arms in invitation and I hugged him, resting my head on his chest._

_"If Alexi needs a place to crash, he's welcome here." I glanced up, tears welling, and hugged tighter. "Do you wanna see my wings?"_

_"Yeah." He grinned and gently let go, my mother carefully lifting the back edge of his t-shirt. I giggled at the sight before me. My father, a six foot one, strong-as-hell male with a beard and a man-bun had the most beautiful butterfly wings. Or at least what appeared to be a tattoo of them._

_"Leopard butterfly. My dad was infinitely confused since he's got these huge great feathered wings, colourful like a parrot." As I watched, his wings unfurled. Thankfully, my room was plenty big enough to accommodate his wingspan, which happened to be more than twice his height. I grinned and he showed me how to tuck the wings away so that they blended seamlessly into my skin, appearing to be nothing more than intricate tattoos, albeit on a fourteen-year-old body. _

__

_The rest of the day was spent chatting and eating, calling doctors to sort out a medical appointment where I could talk about transitioning. Knowing I had the support and love of my parents was the only thing aside from music which got me through the six years which followed._

_I learned the hard way that my anger had become lethal when I came out to my peers and a boy in my class decided to be an asshole. My anger, even across the classroom, left him unconscious as I stole the air from his lungs. I didn't want to hurt him, but the power I'd gained acted out in response to spikes in emotions._

_I started testosterone at age sixteen and had top surgery during the summer holidays a year later. A few weeks after that, Nerida's power Awakened, water like our mother, though that was to be expected, and a shifted base form of a seahorse (mine was a dragonfly). After graduation, I headed to college to study music, moving into a flat at age nineteen. My job at a record store nearby paid well enough, and my parents were kind enough to loan me the money I needed to live away from home. Nerida moved in with me at age seventeen and we ended up closer than ever, especially after her power Settled (around the same time mine did despite the three-year age gap). The hormones had screwed with my power and meant that I hadn't Settled until I was twenty, but everything had eventually and finally fallen into place_

~~~~~~~~~~

** _Today_**  
"Zed? We going?" Nerida asked, still lounging on the bed in only her bikini. Part of me, the overprotective elder brother part, wished she wouldn't put herself out there quite so readily. The other part of me wanted to stick my middle fingers up and say 'screw the patriarchy, do whatever the hell you want'. Either way, it wasn't any of my business. And truthfully, her 'outfit' was far less revealing than a lot of those we saw upon arriving at the beach. 

We headed to the most secluded spot we could find and she handed me her phone and purse, pulling her waist-length, wavy, dusty-blonde hair out of her face with a hair tie before slipping off her trainers, digging her toes into the sand and sighing contentedly. Her transparent secondary eyelids - similar to my own - flicked across her eyes from the sides. They would protect her eyes from the salt water of the sea and anything which could potentially damage her vision. As I watched, things shifted, fins and scales appearing. She wouldn't shift in the webbing between her fingers and the strange Harry-Potter-esque fins which took the place of her feet until she was in the water. Her ears became delicately arched, and each of her teeth became sharper and more pointed. If she snarled in this form, one might think her feral. She grinned, and began wading backwards into the sea. I raised an eyebrow as she grinned. "What do you even plan to do down there?" I asked, wandered to the edge of the water.

"Figured I might meet up with Delphina?"

"Right." Delphina was a distant aunt, gifted with both water and sound manipulation powers, as well as a dolphin shift, and, as far as we knew, a demi-human shift which consisted of her upper body existing in human form, while her legs were replaced by the tail of her dolphin-shift. According to our mother, she'd once been a musician, but had left her entire life behind to be with a selkie - which was technically a sub-sub-species under shifters and generally was only used to refer to Scottish seal shifters, primarily because most selkies were found in clans living underwater off the coast of Scotland, vampires and the descendants of, they turned those who would otherwise have drowned. 

The couple were said to be stunningly beautiful, but no one had seen them in years. For all we knew, the selkie had eaten her. Or taken her back to live off the coast of Scotland with her clan. "You're going to swim to Scotland and back in two days?" Nerida threw a withering look in my general direction.

"No? She sent me a message to meet somewhere between here are Hawaii." I raised an eyebrow as thin membranes began to form between her fingers and she knelt down in the water, meaning it came up to her waist. She took a deep breath and then delicate gills appeared, shadowing the lines of her ribs. She moved so that the gills were fully submerged and waved, grinning and plunging into the ocean. I sighed and shoved her shoes, phone and purse into my bag and setting it carefully down on a rock jutting out of the sand. Somehow, I was more worried for anyone and anything out there in the ocean than I was for Nerida. Apparently, whales were prone to groping. And Nerida was the sort of girl who full-on punched a boy in the face for just looking at her wrong. The catcall didn't help his case, but still. Nerida could take care of herself. I smiled and stripped off my hoodie, deciding that I'd rather be hot than boiling alive in my own sweat.

"Hey dude! Nice ink!" I heard a familiar voice call out. I turned and made the link between the voice and the face. Oh my god. My brain went into panic mode. The man's trademark brown hair and matching eyes, flawless skin with a hint of natural sun tan, and the tattoos covering his left arm were entirely recognisable, even at fifty paces. My entire body tingled, and I became hyper-aware of the scars on my chest. The man continued to move towards me, his hand linked with an equally-stunning woman. Twenty paces. Oh god. I glanced at the sea, debating diving in after my sister. _'Come on, man up. He's just a guy.'_ Just a shirtless Brendon Urie walking along the beach with Sarah in a rather short, elegant dress. Ten paces. I glanced down at my shorts and wiped my palms which had grown grossly sweaty. Five paces. Come on, come on, come on. Two. This is fine... "Hey, I'm Brendon. What's your name?" He asked, sticking out a hand for me to shake. Name. I had one. Somewhere.

"I'm uh... I..." He raised an eyebrow. "Zephyr," I managed to squeak out. He grinned and pumped my hand up and down emphatically. 

"Nice to meet you, Zephyr." I swallowed and attempted to remain calm. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. For someone with the ability to control air, catching my breath was becoming increasingly difficult. "Hey, uh, you okay dude?" Skin too tight, breaths too shallow. I didn't even realise I had unfurled my wings until I was standing with them unfurled and held out to their fullest extent.

"Oh my god," I realised and felt the world tilt and turn black. Then I was on the floor, lying in the recovery position. "Did I faint?" Brendon's grin was enough. "Oh my god," I groaned, rolling over and sitting up, arms resting on my knees. "This is so embarrassing. I had this whole plan of what I would say when I met you but like... you're real." I fought the impulse to reach out and touch his face - and lost.

"I'm real. You okay?" I nodded.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm just here to audition for this vague guitarist position that my boss showed me in a paper - why are you grinning?" He shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. Hey, the girl who went into the water, she any relation of yours?" Faint panic gripped my gut with both hands.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Dude if I'm cool with wings, I'm cool with fish-people. Your sister? She's pretty. Looks tough too." I nodded and smiled, calming.

"She is. Wait, why are you cool with wings?"

"Oh, uh, confidential?" He did not seem very sure of the answer. "If you get that job, you might find out." At that I shot to my feet, wings flaring behind me. 

"You know what the job is?" He inclined his head in affirmation. "Is if Fall Out Boy? Oh my god, no I love Joe. Or is My Chem coming back? Oh but it wouldn't be the same without Frank and Ray. Or twenty øne piløts? Do Tyler and Josh need a guitarist?" His infuriating - and frankly extremely attractive - smirk grew. I might have been trans, but I was not gay. Although... if it was Brendon... I glanced at Sarah, lying under the sun with her hands linked behind her head. Never mind. He was married. _'Pull yourself together Zephyr.'_ "Could you please stop that?"

"Stop what?" He continued grinning and I felt rather like an ant under a magnifying glass.

"Never mind," I squeaked out.

"No, no, go on..." I swallowed and felt my feet leave the ground, wings flapping frantically behind me. "You going somewhere?" I hauled in a long breath and dropped to the ground, allowing my wings to return to their tattoo form. 

"No."

"So, you a shifter? Or something else?"

"Technically, shifter isn't a species, it's just a specific definition for a set of powers which bear similar characteristics... you know this?" I asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"I read a book."

"I'm a quarter-blood sunwalker." He nodded as if in understanding. Which, given that the world pretty much hated vampires, and didn't really know that much about any other species left only one option. "You're one of us?"

"Meaning?" He raised an eyebrow, his face considerably more serious than it had been before.

"Put it this way, I'm twenty, which means I am plenty old enough to remember the Revelation. The whole damn world knows about Vampires, but us, people like me, Quarter-bloods, Advanced humans, Celestials and Sunwalkers and Healers and everyone else, the only people who know about us are people who are associated with us."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Well then I've just outed myself. Oops." He grinned and violet flashed over his eyes.

"You're a sunwalker?"

"You caught me." Despite this, he continued to smirk.

"How does no one know about this?!"

"Oh I just kill everyone that finds out." I was not entirely sure whether he was joking or not, right up until the moment he burst out laughing. "Because, I don't exactly flaunt it. And even if I did, we - humans - as a species are really, really unobservant. And because basically everyone who knows is in my clan."

"You have a clan?!"

"Well no, not me. It's Pete's clan. I'm his second." I lay back on the sand, entirely unsure of what to do with my new-found knowledge.

"Why are you telling me?" He shrugged.

"Just a feeling. Also, who is going to believe you if you claim that a lot of semi-famous people are not humans?" He made a fair point. People were disinclined to believe. I supposed it made things easier for them.

"Fair enough. I've not really got anyone to tell anyway. Aside from Nerida and my parents, I'm not really close with anyone." There was a long silent pause, full of words not spoken.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" I shrugged and indicated for him to go ahead. "I don't mind if its too personal and you don't want to answer or can't answer. When did you know you were trans?" I blushed.

"Oh."

"I would never have been able to tell if you hadn't taken your hoodie off." The scars were a dead giveaway. But somehow the question wasn't probing, just interested. In me and my life.

"I was fourteen. I went through the Awakening. For quarter-bloods, that's when we get our powers. My parents told me what the air and the wings meant and then they knew. Got testosterone gel at sixteen then top-surgery a year later."

"What do the wings mean?"

"My parents are both quarter-bloods. My mom's power is water, like Nerida, but my dad's power is air, like me. Uh, for our family, the powers are passed down through the male and female line. So for me to have my dad's power... it meant everything to me. However, it was not fun to be outed by a freaking magical ability. My parents were cool about it though." Brendon smiled.

"So your 'tattoos' just appeared?" I shrugged. "Nice. Could you not get rid of them?" I nodded.

"Oh yeah. Nerida has her markings, but she generally doesn't have them shifted in. I choose to leave them shifted in because they have a particular attachment to me being a guy, you know? Because they're sort of the first thing, my first memory after coming out is of them?" He nodded.

"That's cool dude, I'm happy for you." I blushed.

"Do you mind if I get a hug? Sorry, I just have been wanting to meet you for so long. I never even guessed that I'd meet you when we came here." He shrugged and grinned.

"Sure. You want a picture too?" I nodded and smiled, handing him my phone so he could take a picture. With that done, he wrapped his arms around my neck. He was surprisingly warm, solid, his lemon and lavender scent homey, comforting. Real. I returned the hug, never wanting to let go. Eventually, it grew awkward and he pulled away. "You good?" I nodded.

"Thanks. I needed that." He smiled and shrugged again.

"S'okay. Hugs are my thing. Listen, I have to go. But I wanna say good luck at the audition. I have a good feeling about you." There was a glint of something in his eye, something I couldn't place. I returned his smile.

"Thank you, Brendon." He waved goodbye and wandered back towards his wife, pulling her up off the sand and kissing her gently before they wandered off. The smile on my face did not disappear, not even after I returned to the hotel.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Candidate #127?" Someone called from one of the ten rooms. Six minutes each. I'd been here just over two hours, sitting with my guitar - a navy and pale blue electric with a well-worn silver inlay fretboard and pick guard which I had built in the final year of high school. It was probably one of the only things which had made my final grade what it was given that I'd been average at school, a straight-B student. Nerida managed to get straight A's while also maintaining four or five solid friendships and a respectable social standing. I was always rather solitary and it meant I had one friend - an extrovert who kind of adopted me - and absolutely no social standing whatsoever.

I'd kept to one corner of the huge practice space, not bothering to plug the guitar in, instead, picking out the song I'd chosen. There had been no advice on the song to play, so I'd also assumed I would be asked to improvise. I'd chosen a Fall Out Boy song - Immortals - which I'd studied hard before even becoming aware of the auditions. Every video I could find of the acoustic version, watching Joe's fingers, studying the way they moved, the notes he picked out. Then studying Patrick's chords. Then finding tab and chords for it. Putting the combined information together. 

I stood up slowly, aware that I'd been sweating since I arrived at 9am. Auditions hadn't started until ten and it was currently just after ten past eleven. I moved quickly towards the person who'd called, carefully stepping over several legs and guitars before walking into the room. I was entirely surprised to find there was no one in the room. A voice came over an intercom. "Plug your guitar in." So there was a camera... somewhere. I took the end of the lead, connecting my guitar to the amp and testing it out. "Metronome?" The voice asked.

"Uh, 110 bpm, please," I replied, trying to shake the tremble from my voice. A moment later, a loud clicking filled the room.

"You may begin." The voice instructed. I swallowed and counted along with the metronome before beginning. As I reached the beginning of the verse, my brain decided that I should sing, and so I ended up playing the entire thing, whilst also singing Patrick's part. When I finished, there was silence.

"Hello?"

"Please write your name and phone number on the paper on the table in the corner." I gently leaned my guitar against the wall and walked over to the paper, quickly writing _Zephyr Guild_, in the column marked 'Name', with my phone number in the column marked 'Number', all of it in a straight line across from where 127 was printed neatly in the first column. "Thank you. We will be in contact this afternoon." And that was it?

"Thank you." I left rather disheartened. They hadn't asked me to play anything else. It was either a bad or a good sign and I wasn't sure which. There were over 300 candidates in total, so auditions were due to finish at one this afternoon. I imagined they would talk and maybe call between two and three, so in the meantime, I headed back to the hotel to sleep for a few hours, setting my phone to the loudest ringing setting possible so that it would wake me up if they called.

As it turned out, the incessantly loud ringing woke me up after the first few notes of my ringtone played. I answered the unknown number. "Is this Zephyr Guild?" I rolled over and glanced at the clock. 15:24. Slowly easing myself up, I replied, hoping my voice didn't sound too sleepy.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Good. I am calling you to inform you that face-to-face interviews are due to take place tomorrow. You have been scheduled for 10:45."

"Oh, uh, okay. Is there any other news?"

"Everything will be explained at the interview." And the voice hung up. I leaned my head back against the headboard and sighed, glancing at Nerida's empty bed. I wondered whether everyone had interviews or whether I'd just made it to the second round. I desperately hoped it was the latter. The rest of the day - and indeed the night - did not go smoothly. My dysphoria, having been silent since we got off the plane, decided to make an appearance at around seven as I wandered down to where the hotel was serving dinner. I ate the spaghetti in uncomfortable silence on my own table away from the couples and families eating together. It was weird. I knew I passed, I'd passed since I was seventeen, but dysphoria still cropped up occasionally. As soon as I finished, I returned my plate to the kitchens - not out of necessity, more because I wanted to be helpful - and headed up to my room, throwing myself face-first onto my bed before catching a glimpse of my guitar. I sighed and sat up, lifting it onto my lap and plucking absentmindedly at the strings. When I thought I had an idea, I set up a video to record myself so I could watch it back later. When my session came to an apt close at just past ten 'o' clock, I sighed and changed into pyjama shorts before throwing myself back into bed and setting an alarm for eight.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Candidate #127?" The same voice called from a different room. All of the interviews were taking place in the same room, taking fifteen minutes each. I'd brought my guitar to keep working on the riff I'd come up with the night before. I carefully and quickly packed it away and carried it into the room. Behind a desk sat a woman, probably only five foot four, with waist-length golden blonde hair and blue-grey eyes. Despite her probable ability to look stunning if she wanted, she currently had her hair tied in a messy bun and was wearing a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms and a white t-shirt peeking out from the edge of a black hoodie with the logo of the musical Hamilton, as well as the logo for Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco and a solid triangle with '11' cut out, painted onto the back, which I saw in the mirrors along the wall behind her. This had to be some sort of dance studio. She also looked like she hadn't slept in a week. I attempted to school my features into neutrality.

"Your name is Zephyr Guild?" I nodded before realising she probably wanted a verbal response.

"Yes."

"Date of birth?"

"31st March 1998." She glanced up and raised an eyebrow.

"You're 20?"

"Yeah?"

"You look sixteen." I winced. Looking like a teenager was an unfortunate side effect of being trans.

"I know..." I was tempted to offer an explanation before she asked a question which caught me off guard.

"Pronouns?" 

"I...what?"

"What are your pronouns?"

"I... he/him. Why'd you ask?"

"Because for all I know you could be non-binary and choosing to be masculine-presenting." When she spoke in actual sentences, it was easy to pinpoint her accent. British. 

"No, I'm a trans guy." The corner of her mouth turned up. 

"Cool. Sorry, just wanted to check. You had any experience in front of an audience before?" I shrugged.

"A little. I play Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday nights at a bar round the corner from my university. But it's usually not more than about 30-50 people." The woman rubbed her neck. "Can I ask a few questions?" She waved a hand for me to go ahead. "What's your name?"

"Thea Elliot." I nodded once. The name meant nothing to me.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty years and seven months." She still didn't look up from her papers.

"Do you know Brendon Urie?" At that, she paused, her eyes flicking upwards while the rest of her stayed predatorily still.

"Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. I bumped into him at the beach the other day. I guess just because he knew about the auditions." Thea muttered something under her breath which I couldn't make out. "Sorry, just curious."

"S'okay. Uh, I have a few questions to ask." I nodded once, settling into the interview. 

Once it was over, I wasn't immediately asked to leave, instead to wait behind. In total, there were maybe six interviewees and it took an hour and a half (having started at 10am). Then there was another half hour of silence which took us up to midday. Thea exited the room a moment after the minute hand ticked past five.

"Okay, before you can all go, could you write your email addresses down here please," she asked, placing a piece of paper and a pen down. "You will receive an email this afternoon with some sheet music. I would like you all to learn it and then go to the address which will be in the email for ten tomorrow morning." With that, she disappeared down a hallway. I queued up to write my email down before heading back to the hotel room. My laptop was sitting open at ten past two when the email came in with sheet music attached. I opened it and found four songs. I flicked back to the email and read through twice.

_Hello all, _

_Please learn the guitar parts of all four of the attached songs for tomorrow, then head to the address below for 10am. We look forward to seeing you there._

_Thea Elliot_

And nothing more. I clicked through the sheet music. Four songs. _Thnks fr th Mmrs, I Write Sins Not Tragedies_ and two I was unfamiliar with. I flicked through the music, both the tab and the chords and set about figuring it out. 

I hadn't realised I worked through dinner until it was eleven at night and my stomach was growling. I sighed and packed my guitar away and winced, promising myself to eat a really decent breakfast in the morning before changing my clothes and crawling into bed, setting an alarm for seven.

~~~~~~~~~~

I snoozed my alarm three times before I actually rolled out of bed, nearly 35 minutes after I'd intended to get up. I showered thoroughly and dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt with a hoodie tied around my hips. I looked up the location on my phone and as it turned out, there was a bus which went in that direction and stopped close enough that walking was an option. I pulled on my trainers and jogged down to grab breakfast - which was huge, as promised - before running back up to my room and grabbing my guitar, phone and wallet.

As I was sitting on the bus, I realized I hadn't seen Nerida, and this was the third day. Rather than freaking out, I breathed steadily and reminded myself that she was quite capable of taking care of herself. Our parents had taught both of us how to use our powers to our advantage, and our mother had also insisted that both of us got self-defence classes, in addition to taking my sister out to the lake behind our house and teaching her how to kick ass underwater. Nerida would be fine.

I climbed off the bus at the right spot and heaved my guitar case onto my back and began walking. It took less than twenty minutes to cover the mile-and-a-half to the address, which turned out to be a huge, fancy, old-looking house. I knocked and Thea opened the door. "Come in. We're setting up in the ballroom. This way." I followed her along several corridors to a huge room which was as beautiful as it was old. From the domed ceiling hung the most beautiful chandelier, casting light across the entire room. At one end was a stage, and at the other end, a set of stairs, which led up to a balcony. Four of the other five candidates had already arrived and were tuning their instruments. I took mine out of its case and began focusing on tuning.

"Hey, how did you guys find the songs?"

"I Write Sins was alright, and Thnks fr th Mmrs, but that third one was a bitch."

"Future Failure? Oh my god yeah. But Shadows Fade was okay."

"Oh. I kinda liked Future Failure. I found Shadows Fade kind of boring."

"What about you? You're quiet." I had the vague sense someone was looking at me so I glanced up.

"Uh... I liked all of them." Thankfully, they didn't press further as Thea appeared with the final candidate.

"Okay, thank you all for coming. Today is a compatibility test. At the end of today, one of you will have the job, the other five will have to go home." One person - someone who seemed to be a little older, maybe in his thirties - glanced up at her.

"You mean like a screen test? Or a chemistry test?" Thea nodded.

"Yeah. We need to see how well you play in front of people with a band. Today is going to be a long day. We're rehearsing this morning, then we're going to sit and talk, then sound check at four and then we're playing for fans here at seven."

"How many fans?"

"About 200."

"Fans of who?"

"Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy mostly. We'll be playing mostly their songs, but a couple of songs from my band - Future Failure and Shadows Fade - will be in there too."

"We only learned four songs though."

"Yup. This is the other final test; how well you work under pressure. There are twenty other songs that I have in a folder. Up until 2pm, we're going to run the songs you learned yesterday, along with the rest of the songs." I swallowed and attempted to catch her attention.

"Uh, who are we playing with?" She smirked.

"I was beginning to wonder who would ask that. Boys?" She raised her voice on the final word and eight people walked out from behind the curtain on the stage, moving to sit on the edge. Murmured voice echoed from the rest of the group and I attempted to keep my breathing steady as Brendon winked at me. "Because Brendon is about to take his lot on tour, they will not be playing, but they will be available for guidance should you need it. However," she smiled, half sweetly, half sarcastically, at Pete, Patrick, Joe and Andy, "they have just got back from tour, so I figured we'd put them to work here. Patrick and I will be singing tonight, Andy is on drums and Pete is on bass. The six of you will be taking turns on guitar. There are twenty-four songs, so that evens out at four songs each, we'll figure out who plays what this afternoon. Joe is going to watch with Panic! for now, but he can give you advice too. And he'll be the one stepping in if any of you don't make it" Pete grinned.

"Alright, we set up this morning, so all that we need to do now is plug you guys in and you're ready to go. Everyone grab an amp and plug it in, make sure everything is working. Andy, me and Patrick are going to play from the stage, but you guys will play there for now. Thea will point to each of you in turn when she wants you to play." He glanced over us and pointed at a red-headed girl. "You're up first." She grinned, plugging the end of a cable into her guitar - a red, gold and black thing which looked expensive.

"Cool. What song?" The rest of us plugged our guitars into the amps and checked tuning and volume. Joe, Brendon and the other people (I assumed touring members of Panic! at the Disco) wandered up the steps to the balcony.

"Oooh, let's start with I Write Sins." She nodded confidently. "Okay, since you guys don't have in-ears, you're going to have to listen carefully to Andy otherwise you will all be out of time." We nodded simultaneously and unanimously. "Alright, let's go!"

The following four songs went significantly better than I expected. We took turns playing parts of the songs and it was nice to be playing as part of a proper band, even if the other members were slightly freaking me out. In the higher octaves, Thea's voice was pretty, elegant, almost angelic, yet powerful enough to carry through the entire ballroom (just not over the instruments, which was why she had a microphone). Her range was impressive too and she sounded an awful lot like Brendon in the lower octaves.

When we finished the four songs (within about 35 mins), Joe wandered down from the balcony with a top hat. "Okay, so it's fair, we're going to play through another two songs the same way you just did, everyone playing a little bit. Then each of you will have to pick one of those six songs. The other eighteen are in here, so once we've played through those two, you'll also have to reach in here and take out three little strips of paper to find out the songs you'll be practicing and playing this evening." Patrick grinned and reached into the hat, pulling out a strip of paper and opening it up.

"_Victorious_." He glanced up at the balcony where Brendon grinned. I refrained from rolling my eyes. Thea also wandered forward and reached into the hat, pulling out _Alone Together_. "We'll put the music up on the screen above the stage, but this is mainly going to be a huge test of sight reading." A screen descended from the balcony and a projector whirred to life, displaying the tab and chords for the first of the two songs.

By eleven, we had run through both songs and Joe passed the hat around three times, allowing each of us to pick out three songs, all of which were either Panic!'s or Fall Out Boy's. For the next three hours, we took turns playing our songs on stage as we would later that evening. With only ten minutes to practice each song and make notes, we were forced to stick to a tight schedule. One boy, who was probably the youngest there, had to run out halfway through rehearsals. He came back significantly paler and shaky. Another person started crying when Joe gave them a bit of direction on one of her songs, but by 2pm, we had actually finished all of the songs and it felt like we'd done okay. "Okay, before we break for lunch and to chat, we need you guys to pick one of the six songs we practiced at the beginning." Hands shot up. Patrick asked two people before he asked me.

"Future Failure," I replied, without hesitating. It was by far my favourite. The three remaining candidates squinted at me as if I were mad and I shrugged. "What? It's fun." Thea raised an eyebrow over her clipboard (which I assumed held all over her notes) and jotted something down. The rest of the group gave their choices and then we switched off amps and unplugged instruments before following Thea, Joe, Andy, Pete and Patrick to a large dining room type space with a buffet already set out. We sat down around the table and picked what food we wanted. Between mouthfuls, we talked about experience, life and our plans for the future, our friends and family. The experience was comparable to meeting god. At four, we headed back to the ballroom which had come alive. People were everywhere, decorating and setting up. The sound check took forty-five minutes and then Thea told us to go and prepare. Each of us had been given what I assumed were bedrooms (What the hell kind of house was this?) for us to warm up and practice in, as well as get changed into outfits which had been prepared and laid out for us - in my case a navy blue s piece suit, complete with a waistcoat, bowtie, suspenders and a belt. A note was laid on top - _'This is what you can wear, what exactly you choose to wear and how you wear it is up to you.Your shoes are under the bed. There is a full-length mirror in the wardrobe._ From under the bed I slid out a box containing a pair of beautiful black shoes and grinned, opening the wardrobe to reveal the mirror. 

It was only as I was pulling the tailored sky blue shirt on that I realised the suit had been made to match my guitar, and not only that, it had been perfectly tailored to my measurements even though I hadn't given them the measurements. Someone had a really good eye. I rolled the sleeves up to 3/4 length and then tied the bow tie, flipping the collar down over it. I was entirely aware that none of this was necessary, but having it did make everything feel more official, and certainly more special. I tucked my shirt edge into the trousers and clipped on the suspenders, shrugging on the waistcoat, which was lined with silk the same shade of blue as the shirt. I ran a hand through my hair and glanced at my reflection in the mirror. It was very V&V era Brendon. I sighed contentedly, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling my guitar onto my lap. The four songs I was playing were _Future Failure, 20 Dollar Nose Bleed, Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time_ and _Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea_. It gave me the chance to show that I was proficient whilst still allowing me to have some fun. Even if I didn't get the job, the day I'd had today would have been worth it. Maybe that was the point. I smiled and strummed a chord.

~~~~~~~~~~

Thea had asked me to play last, so by the time the fifth guitarist walked off stage, I'd had plenty of time to let the nerves build in my stomach. The others all grinned and offered me good luck as I walked on stage. Thea introduced me and grinned at the audience as we launched into Stay Frosty. It took me only to the first chorus to hit my stride and then the nervous energy took over. The fans provided a different energy than the people who came to see me in my home city and it was easy to see why performing was so intoxicating. The rush of adrenaline which builds with every song, the rasp of Thea and Patrick's voices as they hit difficult notes, the way it was so easy to just melt into the energy and tension. The concert ended with Thea's band's song, which was brilliant played live. The guests began to leave and Thea gathered the rest of the guitarists into the ballroom. "You guys have all been brilliant, however, we only need one guitarist. This has genuinely been a very difficult decision because you're all so different, but I live-streamed this concert to the UK where my drummer and bassist are and they have also cast their votes. The guitarist for New Mistakes will be Zephyr Guild." I felt my heart race in my chest as the other guitarists congratulated me and hugged Thea before collecting their stuff and disappearing. The only thing that knocked me out of panic mode was Brendon's not-so-subtle nudge of an elbow into my ribcage.

"Told you." I glanced at him, still unsure of what to say.

"How?! I don't understand." I glanced at Thea, currently sitting on the edge of the stage, downing a bottle of water. Between her and Fall Out Boy on the background packing up I felt entirely outnumbered. Pete glanced at me.

"You're good kid. Really good. And you work at it. We all heard you practicing earlier." I glanced at Thea.

"Honestly, no one in our band has a really good knowledge of guitar, mine is limited to about six chords, Jane's know-how is a little better, but Darcy is completely tone deaf and could not sing to save his life. If Joe, Patrick, Brendon and Mike are all in agreement that you're the best fit, then you're the best fit." I glanced at each of them in turn.

"Thank you. This means the world." Thea grinned and jumped down from the stage.

"Come on then, we can figure out the details tomorrow." I paused.

"Actually, I know its bad timing, but I'm kind of worried about my sister. She was supposed to meet me at our hotel yesterday evening and I haven't seen her yet." Brendon glanced at Pete, who frowned, genuinely worried about a girl he'd never met.

"Where is she?" I glanced at Brendon.

"I... don't know. Somewhere in the ocean?" Pete frowned. "It's easier if I show you. Please don't freak out." I unhooked my suspenders, untied my bowtie and carefully unbuttoned my shirt to reveal my wings, currently in tattoo form. There were various whistles of appreciation and awe. I loosened my belt enough that my wings could slip out and then rolled my shoulders, letting all of my wings unfurl fully. "I'm a quarter-blood sunwalker. So is Nerida, but her power is water. She wanted to go and visit a distant relative somewhere between here and Hawaii, but she's fast enough that she should be back by now." I swallowed. Pete glanced at the others.

"Fancy a late night walk on the beach?" There were various shrugs and an echoing of the sentiment: 'Let me text my...' before everyone agreed. "Awesome. B, Nicole, Mike, Dan, you're getting ready for tour, go sleep. We can deal with this." Brendon looked about ready to argue, but sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Text me if you find something?" Pete raised an eyebrow and Brendon stuck his tongue out like a five-year-old before drawing me to the side. "If you need to talk to someone, Pete's in charge, okay? Although truthfully, Joe is the one telling me to be sensible. He's like Papa bear. Well, him and Ray. Still, Pete can maintain maturity long enough to have a conversation if you want. Welcome to the club." He grinned, hugging me briefly before disappearing through a doorway with the rest of his band. The others climbed into the various cars outside and headed towards the area Nerida had launched from. 

"Wanna go in my car?" I nodded and smiled, climbing into the passenger seat. Pete pulled his belt on and fired up the engine. "So, another non-human, huh? Well then." 

"What does that mean?" I asked. He grinned sideways.

"Nothing. What did B tell you about me?"

"Just that you're in charge of the clan. Why?" Pete shook his head like it didn't matter

"No reason. Did he mention I'm his sire?" I swallowed and glanced his way.

"No he did not. But you didn't seem all that freaked out by my wings," I asked.

"Nicole told me you were non-human by like... lunchtime." I frowned.

"The bassist? What does she know?" I recalled the image of the tall blonde female as Pete explained

"She's an advanced human. A Seer." I sighed. Surprisingly, it didn't bother me. It would come out sooner or later.

"Oh," I said simply, staring out of the window. 

"We'll find your sister, don't worry." Pete squeezed my shoulder. I glanced at him with a smile.

"I know."

~~~~~~~~~~

Nerida shot up out of the water, shifting mid-air and rather melodramatically landing superhero style on the beach, raising an eyebrow and standing up. Despite her having been out of the sea for less than twenty seconds, she was immaculately dry, and given that she'd been underwater for more than three days, surprisingly not-wrinkly. Whatever gift she'd inherited from our mother kept her looking flawless upon exiting the water no matter how long she'd stayed in while I got in the shower for less than ten minutes and came out with my hands looking like a prune. Still, I was overwhelmingly glad that she was okay. She flicked her braid over her shoulder and moved towards me, a lazy grin on her face. "Sup bro?" I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Pete.

"You were supposed to be back yesterday..." I reminded her.

"Sorry. Kinda lost track of time," she brushed my worry off and glanced at the short summer dress draped over my arm. "That for me or are you putting it on?" I handed it to her and she smirked, pulling it on over her swimwear. "Thanks. Who's this?" She asked, tucking her arm through mine and gesturing to Pete with the other hand. By extension, I assumed she also meant the rest of the people with him.

"Oh yeah. Pete Wentz, Patrick Stump, Joe Trohman, Andy Hurley and Thea Elliot."

"As in Fall Out Boy? Cool." Nerida was never really a fan of music, but she was always happy to listen to me talking about my passion for the bands. To her, maths and science were all that mattered. She had graduated high school a year early and was headed to the same college as me to double major in marine biology and biochemistry. Mom and Dad were supremely proud. Not that they weren't proud of me studying music tech - they were - they just didn't really understand it. Mom was a marine biologist and Dad was a vet, neither of them were entirely sure where my love of music came from.

"Yeah. And Thea is the lead singer of New Mistakes. That's the band I came to audition for." Nerida smiled and flung her arms around my shoulders.

"Well done. I'm so proud of my big brother," she told me, ruffling my hair. I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you." Pete coughed subtly and I glanced at him. "Oh yeah, guys, this is Nerida, my sister, the glorified penguin." That was swiftly followed by an elbow to the ribs.

"Three years, Zeph. You really need to find a new nickname for me." I grinned.

"Never." Pete raised an eyebrow and stuck out a hand.

"Pete Wentz. Your brother was worried about you." She arched an eyebrow and shook his hand. Her being three inches taller than him was only slightly funny.

"Mmm. Well, I'm exhausted. You mind if we head straight back?" I shook my head and she smiled, wandering off in the direction of the hotel. I glanced at Pete.

"She's pretty."

"She's seventeen and you have a girlfriend. And kids." Pete raised his hands in surrender and Thea smirked.

"Just making an observation. You going with her?" I nodded.

"Thank you for everything. This has been...incredible." They nodded and Patrick came forward for a hug.

"You know, there are spare rooms at the House, if you fancy staying."

"Really?" He shrugged and nodded, as did Pete and Thea. "Maybe tomorrow night. I paid for four nights in the hotel and all my stuff is there and it's late and I'm not really in the mood to move it. But thank you." They nodded and we promptly said our goodbyes. Tomorrow, I was to be at the House at eleven so we could talk about tour and albums and contracts and all of the necessary stuff. Nerida was coming too, but she'd packed three separate textbooks as well as two notebooks and an array of pens and highlighters and wanted to get a headstart on the reading for when she started college in September. Tonight, we would relax and call our parents to talk. Tomorrow was another day.


	28. Time flies...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got positive feedback on the last chapter, so by default this one is probably terrible. It is also long so have fun with that.

**_18th June - Brendon_**  
"Don't forget to call. We're going to miss you. I hope you know that." Alex grinned and hugged me. It was one of the few breaks we had scheduled on the tour and we were home for now. And Alex was going home too. Home being to away to India to join Priya. Why she'd stayed as long as she had, I had no idea. Although given my choice of parting words, perhaps it was because we were clingy. Alex smirked and rolled her eyes.

"I will. And if you find out anything about Natus ex Morte, call me? Please? You might need our help." I nodded and smiled, waving as she disappeared through the airport customs. She was headed to India in order to attempt to learn how to better control her more destructive abilities and to further study the book. She'd left us with a partial digital copy, but it only consisted of the parts we'd deemed necessary in defeating Luka. She was going to attempt to finish translating the rest of it. For all we knew, there could be a dozen other species and subspecies in the book that we didn't already know about, as well as important information regarding type two vampires or the Natus ex Morte clan. 

For the most part, we'd agreed to ignore the clan. Which was... fine, despite the fact that it plagued each of us individually for different reasons. There had been various deaths across the country which could be at least vaguely linked to the clan, even if they weren't direct links. But we had careers, jobs outside of hunting, jobs which paid the bills, and that was where we needed to focus our attention. I was aware the Winchester brothers were still out there, still attempting to track the clan, to learn more and figure out who the members were and how many there were across America. That was how we'd discovered they really did have members all over the world. Still. We were due to meet with the High Council of Vampires in two years, and the clan seemed relatively inactive, so we figured it could wait. The member who'd escaped a few years ago had indeed been found dead and as yet, the assassin hadn't been caught.

And as much as I desperately wanted to help out - as much as all of us did - we had fans to think about first. If Natus ex Morte was truly as extensive and powerful as we thought it was, we couldn't put our fans at risk. They were already at risk enough as it was. Our destruction of Luka del Moriay's chain of command had created enemies - none of them more powerful than our allies but still - it put our shows and our fans directly in their path. The thought had been circulating through my brain for weeks, sometimes at the front, mostly just lurking in my subconscious. Either way, it was creating problems, bringing things from my past up. More than once I'd woken to Sarah violently shaking me out of a nightmare. Or clutching her ears as my power threatened to forever damage her hearing.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_14th August - Thea_**  
Jane and Darcy had flown to LA at the beginning of June after finishing their separate degrees and in the two and a half months since then, we'd managed to record six songs from our first original album, so far, however, only four had been mixed and produced. Jane's 21st birthday marked the release of our first single - _'(Dwelling in...) Future Failure'_. 

Before the Pray for the Wicked tour had started, Brendon had spent around three weeks of free afternoons working with us to help get all of our songs up to standard, and Fall Out Boy were there with us (on break from tour) when we dropped the song.

Given that we were starting from a platform of basically no long-term fans, Brendon and Pete had agreed to put advertisements for our song on instagram and twitter, including a clip of the song and the video, which was posted to YouTube at midday. Within ten minutes, whoever was in charge of the MCR social media had posted about it, as had Tyler and Josh, and Area 11. We spent the afternoon relaxing, taking a break from sitting in the studio for long hours and taking Jane out for paintballing and pizza.

In 24 hours, the video had gained 11.6 million views on YouTube, and my band had reached over a million subscribers and more than 300K people had left a like. Pete had said it was understandable that a song like that would garner that much attention. For three verses, three pre-choruses and two choruses, the song was about the fear of failing, the fear of not being remembered, the fear that nothing you do will matter. But at the same time, it was positive and upbeat with a fast pacing and powerful tempo, a solid drum line, catchy bass, intricate guitar, elegant piano and complex vocals. It was a song that - according to him - a hell of a lot of people could relate to and enjoy.

Fall Out Boy left to return to tour on the 24th and Brendon returned on the 27th and although we didn't see him for a few days, when he did appear at the House, it was hugs all-round, followed by getting straight to work on our second single - _'Stranger'_ \- which was to be released on my birthday (7th October).

~~~~~~~~~~

**_13th September - Brendon_**  
Now that I was home from tour for a few weeks, I had a little while to try and get my thoughts in order. Jane Allan, newly graduated from a psychology degree, was more than happy to help. So when I wasn't at home with Sarah or in the studio at the House with her band, New Mistakes, I was spending afternoons at cafes talking with her about the trauma Luka had caused and the things I felt about Nathan Hughes. It helped more than I thought it would. She was ten years younger than me, but had insight I didn't think I'd have for another hundred years.

I remember the exact moment the news hit. We were on a lunch break from recording - at least that's what Thea called it. Truthfully, it was also a planning break which allowed them to pause and figure out the best plan of action. And given that we hadn't yet gotten any usable material despite having started work three hours ago, it was much needed. A news channel had been left to play in the background and the newsreader's voice was droning on about something boring. Then...

_“Renowned hunter Braeden Jones has been pronounced dead today at Metropolitan State Hospital. He was admitted at the end of October 2009 after reportedly attacking Gerard and Mikey Way, brothers and the respective singer and bassist of My Chemical Romance, who he blamed for the death of his sister, Elanor, and her fiancée. The couple were killed in a vampire attack in June 2009, for which the culprit was never identified.”_

Darcy glanced at me. "You know him?" I frowned.

"Yeah. Kinda. He was an old friend of Patrick's. He hunted with his sister until she got engaged. A couple of weeks after Pete turned, he accidentally killed Elanor and her fiancée. Braeden found out and when Pete and I were with Luka, he came here looking for Pete. Damn-near killed Gerard and Mikey. They got him admitted there on the premise that he was too grief-stricken to be an effective hunter. Something like that. Never figured it would end this way." Thea glanced at the face on the TV.

"Looks like a cool dude."

"He was. Terrifying when he was pissed, lethal when he was hunting, but he had huge compassion for humans. He was half human. His father was some vampire-sunwalker hybrid. Braeden was twelve when his mother died. He always blamed his father. But his father got custody of him and Elanor. Braeden took the hits for his sister and then they moved out when Braeden was sixteen, went to live with his mother's brother. Braeden killed his father when he was eighteen. Elanor was the only family he had left and when Pete killed her... I guess it drove him insane, even if it wasn't necessarily Pete's fault." Jane didn't say anything, but I could see the cogs whirring in her mind. Zephyr shivered.

"I can't even imagine. My parents were brilliant. As close to perfect as you could get." Strangely, Thea remained quiet. Jane glanced at her.

"You okay?" Thea sighed.

"Yeah. No. It's just weird to think that could just as easily been me." I thought back to her home situation. She was right. Similar circumstances. Different in a lot of ways, but similar enough to give her reason for pause. Darcy wrinkled his nose.

"Messed up. Sorry man. Does Patrick know?" I glanced at him.

"Probably not. You guys mind if I call him?" The shook their heads and I wandered up to one of the spare bedrooms for some privacy. The phone rang once before Patrick picked up, which most likely meant it was either right next to him or already in his hand.

"Hey B, what's up?" He seemed relaxed, which was good, given that he was technically on tour - which was always stressful - and was spending pretty much 24 hours a day with Pete and Joe - which was worse. One of them was manageable in short bursts. Both was... chaos. Although, I reasoned, they would probably claim that hanging out with me was worse. After watching a number of interviews of myself, I was not inclined to disagree.

"You busy?" I asked, tentatively - or as tentatively as I knew how to - because it was a delicate subject.

"Not really, why?

"You might want to sit down."

"I am." He sounded slightly confused, but the tone and pitch of his voice dropped as he spoke the next two words. "Who died?"

"Braeden."

"Oh," he breathed.

"You okay? He was a friend right?"

"Once, yeah. But it was nearly ten years ago and after the incident with Mikey and Gerard, we grew apart. I haven't spoken to him in years. I guess it closes his story though. There's no kids or anything. He was always too busy hunting to find anyone to be with. I should tell Pete." I remembered the incident. Or rather remembered them telling me about it.

"Yeah. Just thought I'd let you know." I set the phone to loudspeaker so that I could absentmindedly rub a speck of dirt off my jeans.

"Thanks B. I should go. We're travelling in just under an hour and I haven't finished packing." I raised an eyebrow at my appearance in the mirror.

"Patrick Stump. Not ready? That is frankly unacceptable." There was a soft snort of laughter and I could hear his smile.

"Love you B. Say hi to New Mistakes for me?"

"Love you too bro. Will do." And that was that.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_7th October - Jane_**  
Although Brendon and Fall Out Boy would be away touring for the release of our second single, both promised to put up advertisements for the song, just the same as they did before. The song - _'Stranger'_ \- garnered less attention than Future Failure, but seemed popular enough that it hadn't just completely fallen short of our new fan's expectations. It was still weird to think we had fans, let alone that they might expect things. Still, Thea was determined that we wouldn't fall into expectations and so far, the album certainly seemed that way. Following an afternoon of horse riding and laughing our asses off when Darcy fell off, we headed for Italian, where Thea - typically - ordered Lasagna and the rest of us spent a considerably longer time than we intended picking out what we wanted.

Having given ourselves the afternoon of the 7th off, we returned to the studio on the 8th to try and deal with our third single, a song called _'Now is Never the Time'_. The lyrics Thea had written were about how people say "now is not the time to do this, that or this other thing", but if you don't do it now, when might you get the chance again. And Zephyr had come up with an incredible - if insane - melody, which made it ten times better than the demo we'd thrown together. However, we did end up desperately calling Andy, Patrick and Pete on the 12th of October for help with the drum and bass lines, which Darcy and I were finding particularly challenging due to weird pacing and three against four rhythms. And even Patrick kind of stared at the music with a look of _"Uh... what?!"_ which was not remotely reassuring. In the end, Thea texted Mikey, who rocked up with a raised eyebrow, plenty of hugs and his glitter bass in its case. While Patrick and Andy debated the drums, Mikey and Pete deliberated over the bass for probably two hours before agreeing and actually getting round to figuring it out.

When the single finally did release (a week late) on November 28th, each of the four musicians we'd involved posted something on their personal social media accounts about the afternoon we'd spent figuring out the bass and drums, as well as the promo they posted on their band's social media. And with Brendon home too, he listened to the full song for the first time. It was an entertaining sight. His eyebrows slowly climbing upwards, and when the song did eventually end, he darted straight for the studio. I figured maybe he'd had a song idea, at least until I heard the crash of drums and swearing. He did not emerge for an hour or more and when he did appear, he looked exhausted and frustrated in a way which was primarily hilarious. "I'm going to take a shower," he announced before storming upstairs. I glanced at Patrick and Pete who smiled and smirked respectively. One of them would cave and show him at some point, but not just yet. As it turned out both the bass and drum lines had been simpler than we'd initially thought, as long as you didn't overthink it.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_20th December - Thea_**  
In only an hour's time, the album would officially become public. I'd spent the night awake doing three things: sewing an outfit which the pattern for had popped into my brain at 10pm, writing lyrics for songs we had yet to make and attempting to write my book. 'Attempting' because I'd started four times already and still hadn't gotten past the third chapter. And because of that infinite wisdom, I watched 7am tick past on the clock and persuaded my over-active brain to actually get at least an hour or two of sleep.

My next memory was Jane leaning in my bedroom doorway with an eyebrow raised at me sprawled across the double bed. "You getting up?"

"Whattimeisit?" I slurred, coherent speech still firmly out of reach for at least a few minutes.

"A little past nine. Album drops at twelve." I nodded sleepily and turned over onto my back, staring blankly at the ceiling. Jane's weight thudded on the bed next to me - fully clothed due to her ability to stick to a schedule. "You good?"

I attempted to say yes, but it came out as a sound halfway between a grunt and a sigh. "Can...you pass my...binder?" She smiled and stood up again despite having only just flopped down, throwing the blue binder in my direction.

"When's surgery?" I swallowed and pulled the binder over my head, adjusting it to where it felt relatively comfortable.

"Theoretically the 5th of January. Even if the album does really well, it takes time to book tours. The dudes said they'd put us in contact with a couple of tour managers, but even then..." I shrugged. "Well, we'll see." Jane nodded as I stood up and stretched, glancing over the room.

"Hey, what's this?" She asked, throwing pale blue fabric in my direction. I grinned and pulled it on, turning so she could zip up the back.

"Oh yeah, made it last night, you like?" She shrugged. The pale blue cotton was breathable and comfortable, but the double layer, gave it durability and strength. The sparingly used silver chiffon silk (translucent and floaty) added a certain level of femininity I was comfortable with while also not being too over-the-top. The whole thing seemed rather genderless to me, and I was frankly loving it.

"It's pretty?" She asked. I smirked. Jane was more of a jeans-and-t-shirt kind of girl, but although she refused to admit it, she did look stunning in the one singular dress I'd seen her wear. Still, I was girly enough for the both of us.

Girly was fine, I was just not even vaguely comfortable with 'womanly'. Perhaps because girly made me think of the glorious time before _puberty_ when there was no... nothing to deal with, while womanly made me think of things that were not me.

"Come on. We should go and make ourselves useful." Jane grinned and threw my pale blue trainers at me along with a pair of white socks from my drawer. I rolled my eyes and pulled them on.

"Can I have ten seconds to do my hair?" Jane raised an eyebrow and I rolled my eyes, shifting my hair to 'Gerard bright red' in a style that screamed 'Brendon'. I grabbed my leather jacket and shrugged it on before following Jane - navy blue jeans, burgundy red and navy blue Area 11 hoodie - downstairs. "You know where B is? Or Pete for that matter?" I asked, grabbing a cup of Patrick's 'Blend' out of the fridge.

"Blood run I think. Why?"

"Because I get separation anxiety," I told her sarcastically, wandering into the smaller of the two living rooms. "They're supposed to be bringing the whole clan - whoever is in LA - over for the album release and then we're supposed to be going out for lunch."

"Oh. I'm sure he'll be here." Jane smiled to herself and I raised an eyebrow. "You know he still hasn't figured out that drum riff. Or the bass."

"For 'Now is Never the Time'?" Jane nodded. "Thought he was supposed to be a musical genius." She laughed.

"Well it did take three drummers and three bassists to figure it out in the first place." I shrugged and grinned.

"We'll have to teach it to him at some point otherwise I think he genuinely will go insane." Jane smiled.

"Yup." I glanced up towards the door as I heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. Approximately thirty seconds of speeding around later - I imagined dealing with the blood they'd picked up - B and Pete stuck their heads in through the living room door. "Hey, you coming in or are you just randomly standing in the doorway?" The grinned and entered, hugging me and Jane in turn.

"You've arrived," Pete said, slumping down onto the sofa. We grinned as Zephyr and Darcy appeared.

"Apparently. Took us long enough." Brendon grinned.

"Aww, come on, Pete was... twenty-two when Fall Out boy started, right?" Pete rolled his eyes. "And they didn't release a record for two years." We smiled.

"So," Zephyr glanced at me. "What now?" I shrugged.

"We've got a few hours before the release so I don't know. We could go for a walk?" Brendon raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing." I raised the other eyebrow. "Just... in that? Won't you get cold?"

"It's nineteen degrees!" Jane and Darcy nodded, while Pete, Brendon and Zephyr all just looked confused until Zephyr realised what we meant.

"Celsius. They use celsius in the UK." Jane sighed.

"You know this country is literally the only on which uses fahrenheit, right?" Brendon rolled his eyes and folded his arms.

"Even so, anything below seventy is not shorts-weather." Darcy - also in shorts - glanced at Brendon.

"You do realise we lived in Scotland? Fifteen degrees is shorts weather." At which point Pete pulled out his phone and found a converter.

"60? You'd go out in shorts in 60 degree weather?" Darcy and I shrugged. "Okay then, walk it is." I grinned and linked my arm through Jane's.

Our walk took us all over the grounds around the house including onto the beach half a mile south. At quarter to twelve, we were sat in the bigger of the two living rooms, with my laptop open on the table and all free american members of the clan gathered around. Tyler and Josh were on tour until the day after our album release, but there were still ten members gathered including myself. And with Jane, Darcy and Zephyr, plus various wives, girlfriends and twelve children, it was chaos. The audios were loaded and ready to go, all I had to do was press enter. We chatted, but one by one, the people fell silent, the clock ticking closer and closer to twelve. I glanced at Jane, Zephyr and Darcy in turn, breathing in and pressing enter. As I did, several notifications popped up on my phone about new posts from instagram and twitter - posts from the band members in the room. With the fifteen audios uploaded into a playlist _'New Mistakes'_, the self-titled name of our album, I clicked on the first song and we released a collective breath as the opening song (our first single, Future Failure, which did have a music video, but as with all of the singles, I'd also just uploaded an audio-only version) rang out.

The following fifty-odd minutes were spent listening to all fifteen tracks (including the three b-sides) we'd released for our first album.

**_NEW MISTAKES_**  
1\. (Dwelling in…) Future Failure [4.11]  
2\. The Forgotten Faces of the Future [4.12]  
3\. Stranger [3.42]  
4\. Ideas and The Box [2.51]  
5\. Now is Never the Time [3.58]  
6\. Twelve Years [3.12]  
7\. Three A.M. [2.37]  
8\. Safe vs Free [3.26]  
9\. Never and Forever [4.02]  
10\. "You Could be Anything…You Have to be Everything" [4.43]  
11\. Take Me or Leave Me (As I am) [3.56]  
12\. Shadows Fade as the Light Inside Ignites [2.49]  
13\. To Lauren (B-side) [2.34]  
14\. One:Fourteen (B-side) [1.14]  
15\. Once Upon a Distant Past (B-side) [3.19]

As the final chord of the final song played and the playlist ended, Pete glanced at us. "Dudes..." I grinned. Most of the musicians in the room had heard bits and pieces of the album, a bass line here or a vocal part there, maybe a drum line or a guitar riff, but none of them had heard the full album. Gerard glanced at me.

"Well..."

"I'm not..."

"entirely..."

"sure..."

"what..."

"to say..."

Zephyr giggled. "I do!" The others glanced at him. "Lunch! I'm starving... you told me there would be food." We burst into laughter and giggles which caused us to be twenty minutes late for our restaurant booking. They said the album was good. The thought ricocheted around my head and I didn't sit still for the rest of the day. Whatever happened, the sense of achievement made me feel lighter than air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And at the point I wrote this, I was not aware that Halsey had a song called 3 AM. And even if I had been, several hours of work and procrastination went into research and storybuilding for this chapter so... You get where I'm going with this right?


	29. Success, Chickenpox and Happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know. Have some fluffy domestic stuff.

**_22nd December 2018 - Jane Allan_**  
“Hey, New Mistakes, right?” Thea paused, glanced at the rest of us with a frown and turned to find a teenager in a Fall Out Boy hoodie.

“Yeah, that’s us. Why?” Thea asked, curious.

“Can I get a picture with you?” Our singer glanced at us. Zephyr and Darcy shrugged.

“Why not?” I asked Thea.

“Yeah, I guess.” The girl’s face lit up and she moved closer, handing me her phone and tucking one arm around Thea’s waist and one around Zephyr’s. Darcy slung an arm around Zephyr’s neck and I pulled in closer to Thea before snapping the picture.

“Thank you so much. You’re my heroes. Your album is incredible. Thank you,” she gushed, grinning and beginning to move away. Yet there was something about it which seemed off. Thea glanced at me and then at the two guys.

“Go on ahead. We’ll catch up.” They nodded and wandered off as we approached the girl and I let Thea take the lead. “Hey, you doing okay?” The girl turned, startled, and I caught sight of tears on her cheeks.

“Can I get a hug? Sorry. It’s probably too much.” Thea shook her head slightly and pulled her into a loose hug which the girl immediately tightened. Thea frowned at me in a question: _'What on earth?'_ I shrugged.

“It’s fine. What’s wrong?” Thea asked.

“Nothing. I’m Callie Jones. I just think you’re inspiring.” Thea nodded once and smiled confusedly.

“Aww, thank you. Hey, I have to go, but if you send a letter to Brendon Urie’s PO box with our names on it, it’ll get back to us eventually. We don’t have one set up yet.” She nodded and smiled weakly as we turned to rejoin our band.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“No idea. Guess we might find out?” I nodded and tucked an arm through Thea’s.

“Come on. The boys will have gotten themselves lost by now.” Thea grinned.

“Boys huh? Hopeless creatures.” We laughed, tilting heads back to the sky.

~~~~~~~~~~

**_4th January 2019 - Brendon Urie_**  
Christmas and the New Year had passed without incident. Gifts were exchanged, calls answered and ended, meals eaten. All in all, it was a good two weeks. A few days into January, Thea and Jane had to fly back to the UK for Thea's top surgery. Dividing her time between the UK and the US meant she was entitled to the free healthcare her home country provided and having attended all of the appropriate appointments, she wouldn't have to pay thousands of dollars for the surgery. “Be safe. We’re going to miss you.” Thea grinned.

“Dude, I’ll be gone two weeks, relax. I’m sure you won’t completely fall apart without me. Besides, I’m pretty sure Sarah has things planned.” Thea glanced at Sarah who offered an angelic smile and a thumbs up. I rolled my eyes.

“Uh huh. But I’m off for the last leg of tour in six days and then I won’t see you until April. Later if you go on tour. How will I ever cope for so long?” Thea offered a hug and a smile.

“I’m sure you’ll manage.” I returned the grin and briefly hugged Jane. “Pete, keep an eye on Zeph and Darcy for us?” The bassist nodded.

_“All passengers on the 08:40 flight to London Heathrow please head to gate 14. This is the final call for boarding at gate 14.”_ Thea and Jane smiled and laced their fingers together.

“Alright dudes, that’s us. See you in two weeks.”

“Good luck Thea!” We waved goodbye as they wandered away. Sarah linked her arm through mine as we left the airport.

“So, back to bed?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Mmm, that sounds good. The dudes can manage without me for another day. And even if they can’t…” Sarah placed a finger over my lips and I raised my eyebrows, hand on the car door.

“B?”

“Mmm hmm?”

“Shut up.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Laying absentmindedly on the sofa with Sarah that evening, savouring the weight of her head on my chest and the warmth of her body next to mine, a thought struck. I reached for my phone, careful not to disturb my wife who had fallen asleep halfway through the last film, and called Pete, who, surprise surprise, was still awake.

“Hey, thanks, now I have a wide-awake ill ten year old who doesn’t want to go back to bed.” I raised an eyebrow and stretched, patting the sofa nearby for Bogart to jump up.

“Sorry dude. How is Bronx?”

“Eh. Alright. It’s chicken pox, he’ll live. It’s just…_Hey buddy, come on, you want water? Okay, you take that. Have you tried playing a game? Or reading? No, okay, try doing that. I’ll be up in a little while._ It’s just difficult knowing that he’s going to have to deal with stuff like this when Saint isn’t, this new baby isn’t, Bandit isn’t and Frank’s kids aren’t, you know? I don’t expect you to get it unless you have kids, but it's good to rant. What you calling for anyway?”

“Oh, right, uh, you remember 2009, when we… got back? Patrick told us about those girls… hunters? I don’t remember exactly.”

“The Venatores?”

“Yeah, that was it. You have contact details for them?”

“I don’t think so. Patrick might, or Alex, but not me. Why?”

“I just had this thought. They’re all over the world, right?”

“Based in Rome, but I think so, yeah, and?”

“If Natus ex Morte truly do have multiple alphas and members across the world, then surely an organisation which functions all over the world would be a useful asset?” 

“How on earth did I never think of that?” I ran a hand through my hair, pulling it off my face.

“Because I’m a freaking genius and you’re… eh.”

“Ha ha. But seriously, that is genuinely brilliant. I’ll ask Patrick in the morning.”

“Thanks Pete.”

~~~~~~~~~~

**_5th January 2019 - Pete Wentz_**  
“Hey, Patrick, do you still have the number for the Venatores?”

“Probably. Although Alex did all the filing about stuff like that so she’s probably the better person to ask. But I can have a look for it. Why’d you want it?”

“Brendon had a thought last night about what Nathan Hughes said.”

“Members and Alphas all over the world, I remember you telling me. And if the Venatores are as powerful as those hunters claimed they were they might be useful. They might mean…” I glanced at Patrick.

“What?”

“Never mind. I’m just thinking. If they are so powerful, how come they haven’t already dealt with Nathan’s clan?”

“I don’t know. But the least we can do is call and tell them and ask for their help.”

“Speaking of calling people, has anyone called Thea yet?” I shook my head.

“Not yet. Figured we’d call tomorrow morning since she’s probably resting just now.”

“Fair enough. When are she and Jane getting back?”

“Friday 18th. But given sunwalker healing, she should be pretty much all healed by then. And I know she wants to dive straight into organising tour. I’ve put out advertisements for tour staff and I’m helping Zephyr and Darcy to prepare a list of people to interview."

~~~~~~~~~~

**_7th January 2019 - Pete Wentz_**  
Patrick had managed to actually find the number for the Venatores, and I had nothing better to do with my time. Meagan was out shopping with Saint, and I was at home with Bronx, who was still not feeling great, but better than he'd been the day before. "Tabitha Nurin," a voice answered. Although I didn't recognise it, Tabitha - Tabby - was a familiar name.

"Hey, are you Tabby? The hunter? I'm looking for Tabby. She came through LA in 2009?"

"Pete Wentz."

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I stabbed you." I swallowed and raised my eyebrows.

"Oh?"

"Once upon a time, you were trying to kill your best friend and I temporarily misplaced my dagger between your ribs." I snickered at her blunt, frank wording.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"Oh you'd be dead before you knew you had."

"Well..."

"I'm kidding. Mostly. What's up?"

"I was hoping to arrange a meeting with your boss? Or whoever is in charge of your organisation." I could _feel_ her narrowing her eyes on the other end of the phone.

"Why?"

"There's something I need to discuss with them. We have a... situation... over here and I... we don't have the resources or the time or the skills or the equipment to deal with the threat."

"Can you not tell me?"

"If the information I have is correct, this threatens the whole world."

"Oh. I'll set something up. Are you happy to fly out here?"

"Yeah, whatever's necessary."

"They'll get back to you. Within the next day or so I would imagine." She paused and I waited patiently for her to ask her next question. "Are you... will you be okay in Rome? With the sun? And the crosses? And garlic?"

"Firstly, I'm a sunwalker now. Secondly, you know that stuff only works on type two vampires, right?"

"I'm aware. But it provides more protection than you'd imagine since we mostly deal with type twos. Type ones generally don't bother us, not since the vampire high council was set up. And congrats on not being allergic to sunlight anymore I guess?" I smirked and sighed, stretching and shuffling towards the kitchen to grab a snack.

"Thanks." I caught sight of Bronx at the kitchen doorway. "Hey, I've got to go."

"Okay, I'll talk to the founders. One of them will call you soon. Bye Pete."

"Bye," I replied and she hung up. "Hey buddy, you okay?" He shook his head and opened his arms. I lifted with both arms, wrapping his legs around my hips and shifting him to the side. "Do you want secret ice cream?" He smiled weakly and nodded as I wandered towards the freezer and pull a pint-sized tub of plain vanilla out, picking a mango and raspberry sorbet that Thea had recommended out for myself. I debated actually putting it into bowls before sighing and resigning myself to just grabbing clean spoons out of the dishwasher. I glanced at the time. 11am. Doing the mental calculations of home time (Chicago) plus 6, I got 5pm. Which seemed like a reasonable time to call Thea. She picked up almost immediately and I grinned.

"Hey Wentz. How's Bronx?" I pulled him in closer, threading my fingers through his hair until he glanced at me with a comically raised eyebrow.

"On the mend. We're sitting on the sofa eating ice cream. That sorbet is _really_ good."

"I know."

"How are you?"

"Fine. Healing well, at least as far as I can tell. I've reached 'itchy' stage, so that's fun. Jane popped out to get supplies and the boys are... I actually don't know. Somewhere. Recording I think." I nodded once and grabbed the TV zapper, switching the TV on and handing it to Bronx, who grinned.

"When you're done with that, if there's anything left, put it back in the freezer okay? And call me if you start feeling worse. " He nodded and turned his attention to the TV as I wandered up to my bedroom. "So you're good?"

"Yeah. How are Zeph and Darcy?"

"Good, I think. We put out an advertisement for tour staff and we've started compiling a list of people to interview. You have any plans and ideas yet?"

"Tons. But I'd rather keep them to myself for now. I wanna talk with the band and get their perspectives before we move forward with anything. I haven't really had the chance to talk to anyone yet. I've spent most of day and a bit sleeping, you know..." I did. After any major physical trauma - like surgery - our sunwalker bodies healer best when they were resting, even better while we were asleep. 

"Yeah. So what now then?"

"Well, flights home aren't for a week and a bit so hanging around here I guess. Actually, I've wanted to look into buying a house in London for when Jane and I spend time there. Figured we might do that."

"Sounds like fun," I told her rather sarcastically.

"I know," she sighed. "But it needs to be done. If we're spending any amount of time over here - which I intend to anyway, but would like to do because Jane is more comfortable here - then we need a house."

"Well enjoy that."

"Thanks. Hey, I think Jane's getting back. You wanna call again in a few days?"

"Sure. Have fun and heal well. We miss you."

"Thanks Pete." I smiled as she hung up. Leaning my head gently against the headboard, I decided to venture down my memories. Since Brendon had pulled me out of the downward spiral of self destruction in 2017, things had steadily gotten better. Tour had been brilliant, I had two - about to be three - amazing kids and an incredible girlfriend and the best friends any guy could ask for. Andy, Joe and Patrick were happy, Brendon was happy, married and returning to tour in a few days, My Chemical Romance were talking again, New Mistakes first original album had done brilliantly and twenty øne piløts had a new album out and were heading back out to tour at the end of the month. And despite the threat in Chicago, or perhaps because of my friend's success, I was happy. Truly happy.


	30. Vampires and Celestials

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chicago, 14th January 2019
> 
> Trying a new thing, this is a 3rd person chapter. Don't know if I like it. Was easy-ish to write but my 3rd person pov writing has always felt clunky and disjointed, which is why it's slightly shorter again. Let me know if you like it.
> 
> Also warning for swearing.

“Alphas?” The sentinel bowed her head and knelt a respectful distance away from the four alphas gathered.

“What is it?” One of the alpha’s asked without looking up.

“The musician, Mr Wentz?” The same alpha’s head shot up sharply. “We tracked a call made to Rome, sir.” The alpha narrowed his eyes, studying her as if she were an insect on a windshield. The female slid her eyes downward, forcing her hands to still by her sides. 

“To who, sentinel?” The female wished that the alpha knew her name. Wished that he knew any of their names. The alphas were a whole different people, power-hungry, controlled, lethal, more powerful than the rest of them. Every single one of the alphas had a power beyond those that their transformation from human to vampire had given them. This alpha - Nathan Hughes - had the power of illusion. Out of all the alphas, he was the second most powerful and the most feared - though she wasn't sure why. He moved towards her with lethal efficiency, long strides which ate up the space, taking her chin in his hand and tilting her head up to face him. She swallowed. As a type two, she didn’t need to, but it was a gut reaction. She was new after all. Very new, in fact.

“The Venatores.” The alpha closed his eyes, still gripping her chin. He grew deathly still, even the rise and fall of his chest slowed. He opened his eyes and without a second thought, without a hint of mercy, the sentinel crumbled into ash. No one knew. No one except the alphas, that is, what Hughes truly was. That power which crumbled vampires into ash came from only two things - celestial blood and sunlight, or variations thereof. Aside from the alphas, no one knew that before he had wholly red eyes, he had blue irises and wings of flame. Aside from the alphas, no one knew that before he was Nathan Hughes, he was one of the Seraphim, one of the most powerful celestials in the world. He returned to the other alphas and took his seat.

“Was there a need for that? She was only delivering a message.” Nathan narrowed his eyes at one of the female alphas and she silenced. Across the table, the second female raised her eyebrows. She was the most powerful alpha out of all of them across the world, and feared almost as much as Nathan. 

“Uriel, please, calm. The Venatores are no threat to us. Not even Rhoe.”

“They have raw power, Jophiel, and the five founding members have nearly ten thousand years between them.” 

“Then no good will come of fretting. We were never the oldest, Uriel, but have we yet failed?” Nathan sighed and slumped in the chair.

“I suppose not.” The female sighed and folded long fingers together. Jophiel was older than her brother by nine minutes, and they bore the same red hair, blue eyes and flame-coloured wings. Or they had until a millennia ago. That was one rabbit-hole that Nathan was trying to keep buried.

The three other alphas returned to studying documents, but the thought lingered at the back of Nathan’s mind. No matter what his sister claimed, Rhoe - or to give him his true name, Raphael - was a threat. He was decades younger than both of them, but he was more powerful than most of the seraphim. Only Michael, Lucifer and Gabriel stood above him in power. Nathan knew Lucifer was in LA - with the celebrities, Brendon Urie, Pete Wentz and the like, who fancied themselves as hunters - but both Michael and Gabriel’s locations were as yet unknown, though he suspected Gabriel to be with Loki. And Nathan was certain that Michael would have nothing to do with either of them, mostly because they were both gayer than Ellen Page dressed in a nothing but a rainbow flag and riding a unicorn, but also because his pride and sense of duty came before everything. Luci, however was like Nathan. Kind of. He rebelled against the societal idea that celestials existed for only two purposes. In fact, he was living proof that celestials could co-exist alongside vampires like Mazikeen and humans like Chloe Decker.

“Nathan? What are you planning to do about them?” The voice snapped the alpha out of his daydream. The two female alphas had already left, aside from one - the youngest alpha was barely out of his first century, but had more than proven his talent in as many areas as Nathan had asked of him. Nathan stood up swiftly, striding towards the huge double doors of the throne room.

“Wait for me in my chambers, Rex,” he called over his shoulder, not bothering to turn to see the look on the young alpha’s face. Pulling his phone from the pocket of his jacket, Nathan punched in a number he never thought he’d use.

“Luci?” He asked as someone picked the phone up. “It’s me.”

“Well. Uriel. I was hoping I could go another few millennia without hearing from you.” Nathan’s lip curled as he snarled. Lucifer had always been an arrogant bastard, but his time on earth had given him a whole new level of entitlement. 

“Tough shit Lucifer. I need a favour.”

“Oh?” He enjoyed this, holding power over people. He was the second oldest Seraphim celestial in the world. Only Michael was older. And yes, there was Amenadiel, the oldest of the Grigori celestials, but he was a watcher, never meant to intervene.

“You know the Venatores? Raphael’s little project?”

“Yes. Who do you think helped him set it up?”

“You?!” Nathan’s voice raised, resonating through the huge room.

“What is it you desire Uriel?” He snarled at the use of his old name.

“Destroy them. Destroy every member of the Venatores.”

“I think not.” Lucifer remained calm and collected, if a little indignant and incredulous.

“Why? Are you scared?”

“Uriel, you are treading on thin ice. And no. The Venatores have their fingers everywhere, operatives all over the world. Anyone who kills a single member is doomed from the moment they start. I cannot take down the entire organisation. And no, I will not speak to Raphael about it either. I’ve been trying to avoid you lot. If there is no other reason for this call, I’m busy. Don’t forget that I’ve already killed you once.” Not him specifically. There were three sub-species of celestials; seraphim like Nathan, Lucifer, Gabriel and the others, whose job - theoretically - it was to eradicate vampires and guide humanity. Then there were the Grigori, watchers like Amenadiel who were never supposed to interact (although they sometimes did), who were supposed to keep their distance and be unseen guiding forces, who - for whatever twisted reason - often bore the same names that the seraphim did. Both of those were in short supply, limited to only those which had been created way back when, although the story of their creation was murky and up for debate. The third sub-species were those born to celestial parents, the new celestials, who bore different names, who had more humanity and who were not averse to living peacefully with the humans and others. 

Nathan shook his head and forced himself to maintain civility - “Goodbye Luci.” - at least until the line goes dead. Then, he embeds his fist six inches into the stone wall before storming up to his chambers and the waiting 117-yr-old alpha. He'd find another way to destroy the Venatores. And if no one else would do it, he'd do it his damn self. Until then, Rex was the only thing on his to-do list and the young male was all-too willing to please.


	31. The Founders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Las Vegas, 20th January 2019
> 
> This is my second 3rd-person chapter. Again, don't know if I like it. Was easy-ish to write but my 3rd person pov writing has always felt clunky and disjointed, which is why it's slightly shorter again.

Pete wasn’t sure that meeting the founding members of the Venatores could be any more terrifying. All he’d been told was that they were all ancient and immortal - not in the way sunwalkers and vampires were - but truly immortal in the way that required a sacrifice of their power or a life or something which cost them more than most people could ever imagine losing. 

There were five of them, and Pete would admit that he’d imagined a throne room of Italian marble pillars and gold, not the raging heat of a barn somewhere outside of Vegas. As it turned out, the founders were in the US anyway, though they wouldn’t say why. Whatever he’d been expecting, it was not the five people who faced him. Given the organisation had begun centuries ago in Italy, he’d expected it to be more… old white men. But then he figured that could very well just be him stereotyping.

Verus was the tallest of them, standing a couple of inches over six feet with huge black wings tucked into his body and a complexion which suggested heritage in the Middle East, which made sense given that Alex’s book had spoken about him being Egyptian. If that was right, then the story about him being a human-turned-immortal and given wings also appeared to ring true. The other two males, Kallin (a pale vampire who was apparently from pre-colonised Canada) and Rhoe (a dark skinned celestial with stunning gold eyes and huge black, brown and gold wings) were almost as tall as Verus, then there was also Laena, a powerfully built healer (standing just under Brendon’s height but probably twice as muscled as he had ever been) had her copper-red hair in multiple small braids with iron beads woven into a style which seemed reminiscent of the vikings. The fifth and final member of their party was Myriad, a sunwalker who looked almost delicate next to the others despite the unearthly glow of her violet-blue eyes. 

Following awkward introductions where even just shaking their hands set Pete’s teeth rattling at the power flowing in their veins, the shortest male (who was definitely still no less than six feet tall) gestured with one hand for Pete to set out his case. The bassist swallowed and cleared his throat.

“Around three years ago, we received news of an illegal vampire clan operating out of Chicago. My clan and some hunter friends of ours tried to deal with the threat alone, but we were met by a male who I couldn’t describe even if I had every word in every language in the world.” Rhoe narrowed his eyes. “You are aware that I inherited psychic abilities from my sire?” They nodded simultaneously. “Even I could not keep hold of his mind. It was like a perception filter which stopped me from really seeing him and stopped me from remembering our encounter. However, he did tell us this: his clan has operatives and alphas in almost every country in the world. I didn’t even think it was possible to have more than one clan alpha. We have found no way around the threats he made against our families, friends, fans and livelihoods. However, we are aware that your organisation has people everywhere and are humbly requesting your assistance in taking his clan down.” Pete averted his eyes, waiting for a backlash. Instead, Verus spoke up.

“Rhoe, Kallin, perhaps tell him about power copies. Also, maybe ask him to give us an image.” Rhoe rolled his eyes, but Kallin nodded and spoke to Pete.

“Pete, are you aware that there are four types of raw power?” Pete shook his head. Ten years and he was still learning new things. “The first type allows the user to steal the powers of other people, these accumulate over time as the user comes into contact with more people. The second type is similar to the first in that powers still accumulate as the person comes into contact with more people of power, however, this is a copying power and the original does not lose their power. The third type is the same as the first, powers stolen, however, only one can be taken at a time. The fourth is like the second, powers copied, and like the third, powers only taken one at a time.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Pete asked, confused as to the relevance.

“Rhoe, Kallin and Myriad are all gifted with the second type of this power, meaning that by touching you, they can replicate and copy any and all powers you have,” Verus replied. Pete arched an eyebrow at the three ancient beings. Rhoe glanced at Verus.

“And despite the fact that we all duplicated telepathic and empathic abilities eons ago, those powers aren’t compatible with your psychic power, so we need to duplicate your power. Then, you can link with our minds long enough to give us the image of this alpha, although no longer or your brain might liquify past where Laena can save it.” Pete raised his eyebrows and pretended not to panic.

“Whatever you need to do.”

“Oh we already did it.” Pete raised an eyebrow. “All it takes is a touch. You shook each of our hands. Every power you have, we now also have.” Rhoe smirked but Myriad seemed sympathetic. “You just need to link with our minds long enough to send us that image.”

The image transfer didn't take more than ten seconds, but when it was done, every single founder glanced at Rhoe, who in turn glanced at Pete, who suddenly became very aware of every fibre in his body. “Go,” Rhoe spoke calmly. The rest of the founding members seemed entirely willing to leave him alone with Pete, who was mostly terrified. “Why did you send us that image? Why that man?” 

“Because you asked for it…?” Pete couldn't quite understand why Rhoe seemed so… hurt.

“I did not ask you to send a picture of Uriel.”

“Who the hell is Uriel?” Rhoe stood up and turned away, his wings shifting. Pete could see the muscles straining through the fabric of his tunic as his weight moved. 

“You don’t know?” Pete raised his eyebrows in a _‘Know what?'_ look. “Your people have a book which speaks of angels. Angels are human's interpretations of celestials. Some of us have been around for eons. New celestials are weaker, but the old ones, like me, we're… what you might call famous. For example, my name is Raphael. I’m one of the four most powerful Seraphim celestials.”

“With Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer?” Pete wasn't entirely sure where the knowledge came from. Perhaps the Winchester brothers. Or Brendon.

“Exactly. I am the youngest of those four, but there are others between each of us. Michael and Lucifer are the oldest, then there are others between them and Gabriel and others between Gabriel and me. The rest are younger than me. We belong to the Seraphim, the highest order of Celestials. Uriel and his twin, Jophiel, are a little older than me.”

“Okay, and?” Pete wasn't entirely sure how any of this was relevant.

“Your friend, Brendon Urie?” Rhoe - Raphael - was insinuating something, but Pete was not catching his meaning. The celestial sighed. “Uriel sired a family eons ago. Brendon, his siblings and their children are the newest additions to that line.”

“You mean they’re related?” Pete wondered why it was surprising. Given Brendon's power and the psychotic streak which he kept tamed (most of the time), it really shouldn't have been a shock.

“Yes. We knew Uriel had a screw loose, but if he’s willing to wipe out his own blood descendants, then he would likely kill me without a second thought. And truthfully, it is probably my fault. Uriel and Jophiel used to throw me around a lot, but when my wings came through, when my power put me up there with Michael and Gabriel, I used it against them. I’d tracked a lone type two vampire for weeks across the desert, it was hungry, feral even. Uriel and Jophiel are good, better than most of the other seraphim, but against a starving type two, there is very little you can do. They killed it, but not before it turned them. They’ve hated me with a passion ever since.” Pete sighed. He’d forced Brendon to turn into a vampire to save him. This man had turned his siblings for revenge. Perhaps even ‘perfect’ immortals have flaws. Pete took a deep breath and hoped the celestial wouldn’t smite him for speaking.

“Look, as much as I’d love to therapise your family drama, I only need to know whether you’ll help.” Raphael raised his eyebrows and smiled.

“Of course. You are right to call us. We cannot promise that it will be instantaneous, but I can promise that I will put people in place to protect humans. That is our duty and purpose, and it has been since I set the Venatores up.” Pete sighed and smiled gratefully. 

“Thank you.” The celestial paused.

“Pete? It would be... unwise for anyone else to hear about this. Not even Brendon. It could put all of you at risk." Pete almost laughed.

"We've been 'at risk' for ten years, and my clan protects its own." Rhoe smiled in a way which was a little less human, a little harder and colder than the warm grin he'd greeted Pete with.

"It is your choice, Pete, but Uriel has killed more of my kind than any vampire." Pete narrowed his eyes.

"And?"

"And sunwalkers do not have the power that my kind have. He could kill your human friends with little more than a thought and it would not take much more to kill you." Pete shrugged.

"All the more reason why my clan needs to know," he told the celestial with conviction.

"I cannot change your mind, can I Pete Wentz?"

"Not at all."

"Then I hope for your sake that we find and destroy this clan before Uriel thinks to destroy you." As Pete turned to leave, a question crossed his mind.

"Do the others know? Who Nathan really is?" Rhoe narrowed those amber-gold eyes, the feathers of his wings shifting in the light breeze which was the only thing which made the heat bearable, before smiling and setting his stance, giving weight and power to his words.

"Go back to your clan, Pete."


	32. 'trick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Los Angeles, 24th January 2019
> 
> Trigger warning: I got a little swear-happy in this. There is only a few, but still, sorry about that.

**_Patrick Stump_**  
“Hey, Thea, we need you to pick out of these colours. For the middle eight?” A guy in a sky blue shirt walked backwards hurriedly in front of Thea, displaying an array of shades of pink and orange and violet.

“Thea. We need you to order these parts for the drums and there’s an issue with sound in Stranger for bass that we need to fix at soundcheck.” The woman - apparently an instrument tech - seemed stressed as hell, despite the fact that New Mistakes first headline tour didn't take off until March or April.

“Hey! Elliot! I need the go-ahead for the staging redesign build.” A third person came over. I glanced at Pete with an eyebrow raised. Everyone seemed way more stressed than anyone had been on our first tour. By the look of Pete, he was thinking something similar. Thea paused and glanced at each one in turn, giving them her full attention.

“Jake, right?” The first man nodded. “We’re going with sunset, okay? We hired you because we trust you. We don’t want anything too bright, but not too dull either. And we’ll want bronze highlights, okay?” He nodded and scurried off. Thea threw me a glance as she continued walking, the other two crew members following after her. “He’s our head designer. He’s in charge of colour schemes and overseeing everything. Felicity, what’s wrong?” The woman fell into step beside Thea. 

“Well it’s just that the spare set of drums was damaged last night and the skins on the current ones are wearing thin and Jane’s parts in Stranger and Never and Forever are messing with the sound system.”

“Okay, well, you’ll need to talk to Darcy and Jake about drums - Darcy will know what he wants and Jake will be able to give you colour schemes and things. We have a sound tech run through scheduled for tomorrow, correct?” The woman nodded. “Okay, we’ll deal with Jane’s part then.” She smiled and peeled away, allowing the third man to move into her place.

“Can you sign this please?” Thea took the clipboard off the man.

“Adam, can you talk to Jake about this?”

“Already did. He gave James and me the designs. We just need to get the builders sorted and then we’re ready to go.” Thea smiled.

“Thanks dude.” He nodded once and disappeared just as Zephyr rounded a corner.

“Hey Thea? Jake and Felicity are hounding me about guitar? Should I know about that?”

“Oh, yeah. We’ve had new instruments ordered. They’re being built just now, but we need body designs by the end of the week. Jake’s in charge of colours and Felicity is dealing with the order. They can set up a meeting with the company.” He nodded and grinned.

“Thanks. I think Jane wants to see you at some point as well.” Thea nodded and we rounded a corner, pushing through a door and collapsing into the chairs beyond.

“Well,” Pete exhaled, “our first tour was nothing like this.” Thea shrugged.

“Really?" She sighed as we shook out heads. "I think everyone’s just nervous. Half of the crew is under twenty-five and the rest are under forty. We’re all relatively new to this stuff, and the tour manager you put us in touch with managed to book us a relatively big venue tour. Not arenas yet, but not small venues either. We’re about to be playing to between two and five thousand people most nights for three months. And that’s just here. Then we’ve got ten dates lined up in the UK and another seven in Europe, all in June. Everyone’s just stressed because it’s new and different. We were literally nobody and then you guys made the album blow up and suddenly everyone wants to see us. We’re 3/4 of the way to being sold out at most of the venues. Plus, it’s so last minute, everything has just kind of been thrown together. We had a sound and staging check rehearsal the other day.” She smiled. “It went so badly.”

“Why?”

“Literally three songs in the staging collapsed. Freaked everyone out and destroyed our back up drum kit. You should have seen the look on Darcy’s face. It was priceless.” She looked to be on the verge of tears of laughter. “Well, not priceless exactly, the drums cost an arm and a leg, but it was still funny.” Pete shook his head, I figured remembering the one occasion that a scrawny nineteen-year-old instrument tech had accidentally torn through a drum skin less than two hours before the show. Looking back, it was funny, but heat of the moment, with both Andy and me screaming at him, the boy looked terrified. And it was probably not helpful that Pete and Joe were laughing their asses off somewhere in the background. It was only when we reached a hour before showtime and we _still_ didn't have a new skin for the drum that Pete started getting worried. And it took Joe another half-hour after that. “I guess it's just, different band, different tours, different decades. I mean, it has literally been more than fifteen years since you first released an album.” Pete and I both made the same face for approximately ten seconds. Fifteen years of our lives had gone into this band. Pete shook his head and grinned at the young singer.

“Well, if there’s anything you need us to do, just let us know.” Thea smiled.

“Final full rehearsal is four weeks on Tuesday if you fancy coming along. Hopefully by then everything will actually be working and there won't be any stage collapses or dramatic instrument breakages." Pete smirked.

"If you're lucky." I rolled my eyes at Pete as we stood up.

"We should go. We have a recording session this afternoon that we are going to be late for," I told Thea. She arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, anything good happening?" Pete glanced at me and I gave him a look which essentially said: _'Do not even think about telling anyone yet.'_

"Just... stuff," he answered. I breathed a sigh of relief and began ushering him out the door.

"See you later, Thea. Wentz, with me." She smiled and waved lazily as we walked away towards my car. "I swear, Pete, if you tell anyone about this before we're all ready, I will stab you. Repeatedly." Pete raised his hands in surrender and grinned as he climbed into the car. I rolled my eyes and followed suit, gunning the engine. 

"You heard from B?"

"Nope, why?" Pete shrugged.

"No reason." He turned to gaze absentmindedly out of the window, his shoulders set in the way which meant trouble was coming, a storm brewing on the horizon. And if my guess was right - and it usually was - it had something to do with Brendon.

"Pete? What's going on?" I attempted to pry.

"I need to talk to Brendon about it. And I'd rather do that in person." That definitely meant that whatever was going on, it was not good at all.

"Pete, you know you can tell me, right? If it's getting bad..." He smiled.

"I know. And I'm... good, actually. But what's going on, the shit that is about to go down, I don't want you anywhere near it." I frowned, trying to figure out his meaning. He shook his head and cracked his knuckles. "I found out something about Nathan Hughes."

"Okay...?" Pete ran a hand through his hair, pulling it out of his face.

"Before he was a vampire, do you know what he was? Who he was?" I shook my head. Despite various members of our clan doing as much research as possible, no one had managed to dig anything up. "I met with the founders of the Venatores a few days ago. As it turns out, they knew who Hughes was before. And Trick?" In all of our time as friends, Pete had used the nickname a total of seven times, eight including now. It was the name he used for me when he was scared. When all of his bravado had been washed away and knocked down. It was a nickname used in apologies after suicide attempts, the nickname he used when returning from Luka's torture, the one he'd used after killing Braeden's sister. "I'm fucking terrified, Trick. Not for myself, but for you, Andy, Joe, B's band, Dun and Joseph. They've been dragged into our fight." He paused and glanced at me. "My fight." He looked down at his hands, running a finger over the tattoos by his wrist.

"What about this scares you?"

"Hughes, before he was a vampire, he was a celestial. According to Rhoe, one of the ten oldest celestials in the world. Rhoe's real name is Raphael. And Nathan Hughes was Uriel. And he happens to be one of Brendon Urie's ancestors." I swallowed and stared at the road.

"Fuck," I uttered quietly. I searched for a more appropriate word. There wasn't one.

"There's more." My fingers tightened on the steering wheel. "Nathan Hughes still possess all of the abilities he did as a celestial. That means he's a thousand times more powerful than anyone we've fought before. He makes Luka's power look like a drop in an ocean. According to Rhoe, he can kill a vampire at fifty paces with pinpoint accuracy and no visual. And according to Rhoe, Uriel - Nathan - has a sister, Jophiel who is his equal in power and skill. Rhoe is more powerful than one, but not more powerful than both. And they can combined their power, which quadruples it. If they do that, not even the five founders working together are stronger than them."

"Pete, promise me something?" He glanced at me, something more than sorrow in his eyes. "Whatever happens, we have each other's backs? No matter what?"

"Of course, Patrick. Always."

"You don't sideline me - or any of the others. If they want to be involved, they are." Pete nodded.

"I know." Every fibre of my being was on fire as his gaze passed over me, assessing. "I know," he repeated. And he did. He'd gotten better. Less... clingy and overprotective. Still doing his level-best to keep me and everyone else out of harm's way, but not refusing to let us fight by his side. It was something. I wondered sometimes whether or not he remembered everything he'd done, but as soon as the thought crossed my mind, it was immediately swept away by the fact that it didn't matter. The past, as much as we must learn from it, cannot anchor us nor hold us under its thumb if we do not let it. It is a guide, not a prison. Sometimes Pete forgets that. I think sometimes everyone forgets it, and it is good to be reminded. Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it, but those who are trapped in the past may never move on. 


End file.
